Rapture
by Revu
Summary: Red and Giovanni wage an epic dual. By winning Red hopes to dissolve Team Rocket forever while Giovanni is determined to open Red's eyes to the truth to see the world as he does. Adventures Manga. Angst,Violence,Shonen-Ai
1. Earth Badge

Pokémon Rapture (cut)

Disclaimer:

-The author does not own any part of the Pokémon series, including but not limited to the characters of the story.

-This story is entirely fictional, based from purely fictional premise, none of the characters, actions characters partake in, many contraptions found here-in did not happen/do not actually exist.

-No money was made from the creation or distribution of this fic.

-No animals/people/Pokémon were hurt in the making of this fic.

-The author does not encourage nor endorse others to partake in actions as described within the story.

Warnings:

This story is rated M(Mature)+ for the following reasons:

-Extreme Violence

-Situations of Angst

-Explicit depictions of kidnapping, murder, torture, and rape

-(Explicit sexual content has been filtered for the edited version of the story)

If any of these themes offend you, please do not continue to read this story.

Notes:

Red accepts Giovanni's challenge to a Pokémon Battle. To win means Team Rocket will disband forever, to lose means he must join.

Story starts in the 3rd Pokémon Adventures Manga (Pokémon Special in Japan) in chapter 36 during the gym fight between Red and Giovanni. In the original story, Giovanni makes Red a deal to disband Team Rocket if Red wins, but to have Red join TR if he loses. Giovanni uses amazing skill and cunning throughout the battle, yet in the end Red somehow defeats Giovanni's ground Pokémon with his Pikachu's Thunder attack. We'll see how that changes today!

I wrote this story to be able to flow decently well even if you've no knowledge of the manga series, but just in case anyone is interested there's a great site with detailed character bios on the main manga characters that can be found here .net/manga/characters-new/ the site also has synopsis information on the mangas.

I would still recommend having a solid knowledge of Pokémon in general. For wonderful information on Pokémon you might not be too familiar with there's a great site to look them up on at

Otherwise just try and keep in mind this story is about Red and although Ash's character in the anime is based off of the character Red there's many differences such as the Pokémon they use and basic battle tactics.

For a quick character/name comparison the differences go like this:

Red – Ash

Blue – Gary

Green – If you play fire red or leaf green games you get an option to select a girl as your playable character. Green is that girl.

And if you do check out the profile link I listed above, I just want to avoid confusion first by explaining that in the Japanese version of the manga Gary was Green, and the female protagonist was Blue. This was switched in the American version of the manga since we got red and blue versions of the game and not the red and green versions they got in Japan. Since I use all of the English names for the Gym Leaders I decided to stick with the English naming scheme for those characters as well.

Feel free to drop me a line with any questions or comments about my stories

That should do it, so for anyone who's left, I hope you enjoy the story!

________________________________

Earth Badge

Red's Polywrath was tossed to the side by Giovanni's Cloyster. Giovanni chuckled to himself as Red knelt by his fallen Pokémon. "It's a shame Red… It really is…"

Red shot up furiously, "What are you callin'…"

Giovanni put a hand up interrupting the boy, "Don't misunderstand me… There was nothing shameful about your attack. The Shame is that you're not on my side. I could use a trainer with your stubbornness, your explosive energy, your empathy with Pokémon."

Red waved his hand "YOU THINK I'D JOIN YOU?!"

Giovanni shook his head, "No actually… I don't. You see your independence and honor are among the traits I admire in you. So then… how about a bet?"

Giovanni tossed his Poké Balls to the ground in front of him, "As you can see my Pokémon are on the floor far from me. It will take me six seconds for me to seize one and attack. On the other hand you have five Pokémon still at your side. If you can win under these conditions I'll make no demands on you. I'll accept whatever you decide… However if I win…" Giovanni stared at Red ominously, "you will spend the rest of your life battling for ME at my side! Well?"

Red stared Giovanni down defiantly before removing his own Poké Balls from his belt and tossing them to the ground also. "I'll take your bet, but this is going to be a fair fight."

Giovanni smiled, "Yes, that's what I love about you…"

The two stooped into position ready to dash for a Poké Ball. In a split second they were off, Red grabbed a Poké Ball first and released Snorlax, "MEGA PUNCH!" Red ordered and Snorlax rushed to comply, but was immediately blocked by a Nidoking.

"Sometimes it's best to use your opponent's speed and anxiousness against them, you'll learn that soon. Nidoking! Seismic Toss!" Giovanni commanded and his Nidoking actually lifted the huge Snorlax into the air.

"No way!" Red shouted as his Snorlax was slammed hard onto the floor. The foundation of the Viridian Gym shook and the building began to collapse around the combatants. Red's Snorlax was slowly climbing to its feet but Red knew it wasn't fast enough to escape the collapsing ceiling, "Snorlax return!" Red shouted as he called the massive Pokémon back to its Poké Ball. Red immediately scrambled for his other Poké Balls, but the collapsing floor caused them to roll away in random directions.

A large wooden beam fell from the roof and was falling toward Red's unconscious Polywrath. Without even thinking about it, Red threw himself on top of his Pokémon, shielding it with his own body. He yelled in pain as the beam hit his torso. Pushing the beam off, Red limped back to his Poké balls. He didn't have time to get all his Poké Balls before they all rolled under the falling debris. Saving his injured Pokémon first and then grabbing the ones he could, he dashed out of the building knowing the Poké Balls would keep the others safe for now.

Once the entire building collapsed Red realized he had completely lost track of Giovanni. He stared through the dust trying to make out Giovanni's location. An eerie laugh began to resound through the rubble. Red braced himself when from within the rubble and dust giant figures began to emerge. Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Rhydon, and Dugtrio stepped out from the thick dust.

"You're so predictable Red, in the time it took you to safely whisk away a few of your Pokémon I was able to pull out more of mine. Say hello to my A-Team." Giovanni smirked at the boy.

Red gritted his teeth and threw the first Poké Ball he was able to pull out before the collapse. "VENUSAUR!" the giant plant Pokémon emerged and stood formidably before the four ground Pokémon.

Giovanni scowled, "Rhydon use Horn Drill!" the giant ground Pokémon dashed toward Venusaur horn spinning and ready to impale.

"Vine whip!" Venusaur's vines emerged and wrapped around the giant Rhino actually lifting it up from the ground, spinning it in the air, and throwing it back at the Nido couple.

"Not bad," Giovanni smiled. Red stared in anticipation not quite knowing what Giovanni had up his sleeve next. Red then noticed the Dugtrio was nowhere in sight.

"Watch out from below Saur…!" Red didn't finish his warning before the ground began to shake. The ground cracked and split open wide around Venusaur, causing it to fall into a freshly dug pit. Venusaur was effectively immobilized. "No…"

The other three Pokémon were back on their feet and surrounding it. Red needed time and a plan of attack formed almost immediately in his head. Acting on his idea he forced himself to look up at the sun.

Giovanni's eyes widened as he saw Red's stare move upward. Realizing if Venusaur attacked with Solar Beam he could be in trouble… He turned to his Pokémon "Quake!" He commanded.

Both Nidos began to shake the ground. Red stared doing his best not to smirk as the sky darkened due to the amount of dust being scattered from the quake.

Giovanni grinned feeling he had successfully thwarted Red's strategy. He squinted his eyes peering into the thick dust cloud his Pokémon had created and saw a strange glimmer shine through it. A low grumbling noise was heard through the dust, and immediately Giovanni knew it was no Venusaur making that noise

Now was the time, "HYPER BEAM!" Red shouted as the mighty Gyarados blasted pure energy through the cloud impacting Nidoking dead on and flinging it back into the rubble of the gym. Gyarados howled loudly again as the blast caused the dust the clear, its presence immediately intimidating all of Giovanni's Pokémon.

Giovanni cursed under his breath, Red played him well to have delayed his attack long enough to call out another Pokémon, especially one as formidable as a Gyarados. Giovanni threw another Poké ball into the mix releasing a Rhyhorn, and with a wave of his hand, he sent his Pokémon charging at the Gyarados in an effort to take it down before it recovered from firing the hyper beam.

Red was ready for the charge, "Venusaur, Razor Leaf!" a barrier of leaf attacks came between Gyarados and the attacking Pokémon.

Giovanni stomped his foot on the ground signaling Dugtrio to continue its attack on Venusaur. Using Dig, the Dugtrio rose from the ground at incredible speed impacting Venusaur from below, hurling it into the air. It landed none too nimbly some meters away.

Red's eyes widened in panic but he couldn't afford to lose his cool now, Saur had done exactly what he needed him to do, "Gyarados, Hydro Pump!"

Gyarados released a torrent of water which struck Rhyhorn. The rocky Pokémon took full damage and was knocked out stone cold in the single hit.

Nidoqueen and Rhydon now stood facing the Gyarados on their own. Red knew Dugtrio's subterranean attacks were nearly useless on the flying water dragon. A feeling of dread washed over him though as he felt like he was leaving something out.

"You fight very well Red, you've been giving me a run for my money… no one has ever done this to me before." Red waited for Giovanni to give his Pokémon their commands, trying to anticipate how to react to any ground move they could conjure, "Though this is a battle that I will not be losing today, ICE BEAM!"

Red's expression quirked as a beam of ice was fired from behind him hitting his Gyarados in the back. Turning quickly he saw Giovanni's Cloyster had managed to sneak around behind him to launch a surprise attack. The giant sea dragon howled in pain as it was becoming encased in ice.

"Now to end this, Double Edge!" As the ice solidified over Gyarado's thick scales, Rhydon charged through and struck Gyarados with incredible force from its' horn, enough to cause the ice to shatter and Rhydon to fly back taking quite a bit of damage itself. Gyarados however fell limply to the ground, knocked out from the shock of the blow.

Red recalled Gyarados to its Poké Ball. "Do you concede Red?" Giovanni asked almost politely it seemed.

Red took in a deep breath, "…No… Not until the very end!" Red shouted back, throwing a recovered Poké Ball and sending his injured Snorlax back into battle.

Giovanni shook his head, "You're quite stubborn aren't you?" Giovanni chuckled to himself in mild amusement. "You are incredible Red, so passionate even in the worst of situations. Unfortunately for you in this battle, you have but two injured Pokémon remaining. Your Snorlax I'm fairly certain has about half of its health remaining, and oh yes your Venusaur can barely stand. At your belt you have a Gyarados and Poliwrath neither of which is in any shape to battle further, and two of your other Poké Balls are currently buried under the fallen gym." Giovanni gently tapped his foot as he spoke, "And let's not forgot your Snorlax relies HEAVILY on the sturdy ground beneath its feet."

The Dugtrio emerged as Giovanni spoke preparing to attack Red's heavyset Pokémon. "Venusaur now!" As Red commanded a huge beam of light overtook the area. Since the dust settled Venusaur had been collecting as much solar energy as it could and now finally unleashed it on the Dugtrio.

Giovanni shielded his eyes from the bright light. He looked over his arm in time to see Snorlax Mega Punch his Nidoqueen and send her flying back into the rubble of the gym also. Down another two Pokémon, Giovanni realized he could not afford to let this battle drag on any longer lest Red discover a way to truly turn the tides of the battle.

Red's eyes were calculating the remaining forces looking for any way out, any means of attack to break free of this poor situation.

"This battle still ends my way! Rhydon, use Fissure!" Red had never seen this move before. Rhydon appeared to grow in size and strength, quickly focusing that power into one spot and driving it through his Snorlax. Snorlax was dragged through several meters of solid rock creating a huge crag before being dropped by the attack with complete loss of consciousness.

Red stared in disbelief as Giovanni's remaining Pokémon converged around his Venusaur who was still unable to stand. "No…" Red sank to his knees "I…" Red had to will himself to not shed any tears, "I…"

Giovanni took interest in the boy's dilemma, "Are you giving up?" Giovanni asked solemnly. A moment of silence passed and Red finally nodded. Giovanni walked slowly through his Pokémon to Red's side, "You love your Pokémon a great deal don't you?" Again only a nod, "Does it pain you to see them suffer?" A nod once more, "Then join me on my quest to end that suffering!"

Red looked up at Giovanni not comprehending. "But Team Rocket kills Pokémon just for sport and experiments, how is that putting an end to suffering?!"

Giovanni shook his head and placed a hand on Red's shoulder, "A means to an end, you're young still, in time you will understand the evils of the world, and what must be done to stop it."

Red backed away slowly, "N… No… I can't be part of that!"

Giovanni frowned, "But we had a deal."

Red shook his head, imagining all the times he'd fought against the Rockets, "But… I… I can't…"

"As I said, you don't understand yet… but don't worry, you will." Giovanni towered over the younger trainer.

Fear flashed for a brief moment in Red's eyes. Giovanni knelt down closer to him and in an instant those same ruby eyes became dulled. Red looked down at his arm and noticed a syringe sticking out of his arm that Giovanni must have stuck him with quickly… a tranquilizer.

"Do not fear Red… As I said, soon you will understand everything." Giovanni nodded to the drooping boy before his consciousness slipped away entirely.

From the dust and rubble of the gym behind the battle field three figures emerged; the Rocket gym leaders Surge, Sabrina, and Koga.

"What will you do with him?" Sabrina asked her leader.

"I want him fully in the fold… we cannot rely simply on hypnosis for this though. Once hypnosis is broken it becomes too simple to completely revert to the way one was before… I didn't want to resort to this, but I'm afraid I must break him." Giovanni turned and walked away, recalling his Pokémon to their Poké Balls and began searching for Red's missing Poké Balls in the debris of his old gym.

_______________________________


	2. Foundation

Foundation

Red slowly came back to his senses. He looked around and noticed he was in some kind of hospital bed. His memory was hazy and he couldn't think of how he got here. He looked around and took note of the bandages around his torso. He moved and felt numb, his muscles not entirely responsive. There was an IV in his arm slowly dripping fluid into him. Red tried to sit up and only then noticed that he was strapped down on the bed.

At first Red was confused, but then panic set in as he began to remember his battle with Giovanni. He had lost to him. Red began struggling to loosen up his restraints enough to slide his slender arms out of them.

"I see you're awake," a voice from the doorway spoke. Giovanni walked into the room slowly and frowned as he saw Red's angry and rebellious expression. "Maybe this will make you feel better?" Giovanni held up Red's belt with all of his Poké Balls attached to it, "they are all here and in good condition." He tossed the belt on Red's lap so he could get a better look at them.

Red remained silent, "Why didn't you just abandon them like you do your own Pokémon?"

Giovanni chuckled, "You may find this hard to believe, but I find the act of abandoning Pokémon appalling and have no qualms in dealing with those who would do such a thing." Giovanni sat beside Red's bed and clasped his hands, "I see a lot of me in you. Only you're still innocent… You haven't seen the things I have. You see… I'm out to save the world Red… And though many wouldn't agree with my methods, the end justifies the means."

A look of sympathy crossed Red's face, "I don't know what you're trying to save the world from… but I'm sure there have to be other ways to do it besides hurting people."

"We've tried, and there isn't," Giovanni replied instantly.

Red snapped back, "I won't help then."

Giovanni shook his head, "Don't worry, I expected this reaction from you. You haven't changed a bit you see... in… how long has it been since we went exploring for Pokémon Fossils… A long time… And time is running out…" Giovanni removed a syringe from his coat pocket.

"What is that?" Red demanded.

"Don't worry too much about this…" Giovanni said as he injected Red's IV with the solution, "The only thing this is going to do is open your mind to more possibilities." Red's eyes widened realizing now he was being drugged, "I'll be back soon, you should rest up… We have much to do." Giovanni left Red alone in the room again.

Hours passed by and many thoughts flooded Red's mind. The drug actually began to make Red question all the little decisions he'd made throughout his life. He tried shaking the notions off, but the strange thoughts just kept repeating over and over. Looking to the window, Red's anxiety built and he could only hope his friends would come find him soon.

Giovanni finally returned some time later. Red wasn't sure how long it had really been as he seemed to have lost his ability to keep track of passing time. Giovanni unstrapped Red and lifted him from the bed to take him to another room down the hall. Red wanted to struggle, but his muscles weren't listening to his brain.

Giovanni was easily able to strap him to some new apparatus which kept him suspended in an upright position. "First we're going to try the easy way… unfortunately the easy way never works but it's always a start…" A monitor was situated on the wall across from Red.

"Wh… What do you w…wa… want?" Red muttered out.

"All you need to do is watch, and keep an open mind… Oh that reminds me." Giovanni pulled out a new syringe from his coat, "You'll need a second dose for the duration of the movie." Giovanni stuck the needle in Red's arm and injected him directly. "There now, just enjoy the entertainment."

Red couldn't even make a sarcastic remark back at the man. He was feeling sick yet free at the same time. The video started and Red found himself face to face with hours of Rocket propaganda. Red tried not to listen to it as it kept saying things like Team Rocket was good and that the governing powers of the world were lying to the people to better suit their own interests.

Through a large mirror, Red was watched from the neighboring room.

"This will never work, the boy has a deeply engraved distaste for us," Koga voiced his opinion to the group.

"Give it time, he'll come around…" Giovanni stared looking almost emotionless at the suspended boy.

"You seem to have some real vested interest in the stupid brat. After all the trouble he's caused we should just kill him and be done with it," Lt. Surge crossed his arms as he leaned against the far wall of the room. "What do you see in him anyway?"

Giovanni chuckled, "All that trouble he's caused, the numerous times he's defeated you, imagine that harnessed for our side. He has the potential to be an incredible asset."

"Is that all you truly see him as?" Sabrina walked into the room and stared at Giovanni disdainfully. The other two looked oddly at the psychic girl wondering what all she meant by her statement.

Giovanni didn't respond. He turned to continue watching the boy. Koga took a look and noticed Red seemed to have fallen asleep, "Waste of time, he's not even paying attention to your little video, he's sleeping through it!"

Sabrina laughed, "It's best this way, our words enter his subconscious mind without any defenses."

Giovanni stood to leave and rest for what would be a long day tomorrow.

Red fell in and out of sleep throughout the night. The videos just went on and on. While he was awake he did his best not to pay attention to them. It was better that way; he found some of them starting to make sense if he actually watched them.

Red was mostly asleep by the time the last video ended some twelve hours after they began. His senses were still dulled from the drug and lack of real sleep and he failed to notice the door open and someone walk in until a bucket of cold water was splashed on his body. "AHH!" he yelled most of his senses waking up from the water.

Giovanni stood over him still holding the bucket. Red scowled his best at the man, proving his defiance at making it through those videos without succumbing to the drugs. Giovanni sighed, "Very well… phase two…"

Sabrina and Lt. Surge entered the room each being followed by a Pokémon. Sabrina had her Abra sit in front of Red, while floated a Magneton behind Red's field of view and made some clicking sounds.

"What's phase two?" Red asked.

Giovanni looked over the boy carefully, "In phase two we have you watch the videos again."

"Joy…" Red quirked.

"Only this time you'll have company watching them with you. Abra will keep track of your thought patterns, and when you think thoughts that contradict with what we're teaching you…"

"Like you are now…" Sabrina added in.

"Then Abra will have Magneton shock you."

"LIKE THIS!" Lt. Surge emphasized by having Magneton run electrical energy through the apparatus Red was tied onto.

Red screamed as the electricity passed through his still wet body. Once the wave ended Giovanni pulled the bandages from Red's bruised torso, "Knowing your stubbornness we wouldn't want a fire being set in here."

Red let out a slight gasp as Giovanni's hand gently brushed against his bare chest. The Abra detected a sudden change in Red's thought patterns which made Sabrina take notice of the contact.

"Restart the videos," Giovanni ordered as the three of them stepped out of the room and returned to the observation area.

Almost immediately the room was filled with light as the Abra kept signaling for the Magneton to electrocute Red. For the first three hours crackles of thunder and Red's screams were the only sound heard in the observation area.

Koga was about to state how hopeless he felt this was when the screams and crackles began to die down. Looking through the window he saw Red staring intently at the video without being shocked. "So he lived through it after all…"

"Of course he _lived_" Giovanni crossed his arms and continued to watch. Every ten minutes or so a look would cross Red's face but would quickly be wiped away by Magneton's Thunderbolt.

Phase two continued on for three days, halting only for minor sustenance breaks. Red was becoming weak and jumpy, but the torture went on. By the end of the third day Magneton wasn't shocking Red at all anymore.

The videos ended and Giovanni entered the room to examine Red more closely. Tilting the boy's head up he looked in his eyes only to find a blank expression. Giovanni stared for a moment longer before his face twitched into an amazed expression, "You… ohhhh… cunning aren't you…" Sabrina followed Giovanni inside and looked confused at her leader. "Imagine the willpower to trick your Abra like that…"

Sabrina looked shocked, "What? Tricked Abra?"

"This is a step in the right direction, but he's stronger willed than we gave him credit for…" Giovanni let go of the boy and stepped away in thought.

Sabrina placed her hand on the boys head trying to see what Giovanni must have seen with his normal eyes. It all came together. The Abra was ordered to send the signal to shock him upon detecting thought contradictory or defiant to their information. They had thought this would force him to agree with their ideals, but instead he placed his own mind in a state of neutrality so he could hold on to the person he was.

"I had no idea a normal person could have such control over their own mind…" Sabrina muttered softly.

Giovanni began to laugh from the other side of the room, "Oh… he's far from normal…. That's what makes him so special and important to my plans."

"What now?" Sabrina asked.

"Phase three…" Giovanni began removing the shackles from Red's limbs.

Sabrina actually looked confused, "What is phase three?"

Giovanni closed his eyes, "We must draw him out of this mental shell he's put himself in and shatter his beliefs so he'll never dare defy us."

"How will you accomplish this?"

Giovanni's eyes snapped open and Sabrina noticed his own mental barriers intensify greatly to keep her from sensing his thoughts, "Don't worry about it, we just need to have him mentally aware for it to be effective. He needs food and rest." Giovanni carried the boy off leaving Sabrina still trying to make sense of Giovanni's plan.

Red awoke the next day feeling exhausted and sore. He was glad to be in an actual bed and not hanging on some stupid metal machine. He was even more amazed when he noticed he wasn't strapped down to this bed. He lifted his hand but immediately noticed he'd been taking so much voltage the past few days that all of his muscles shook violently as he tried to move them.

The door to the room opened and Giovanni entered carrying a tray of food. It smelled so good… Red had to struggle not to smile at the sight of it. After all he hadn't seen real food in four days. Giovanni set the food down on the table by the bed, "Here, eat now."

Red looked up at Giovanni, not sure whether to believe this man to be a devil or an angel. He was so hungry he accepted the offering and tried to reach out for the food.

Giovanni immediately noticed Red's motor functions not performing the way Red was intending them to. "Let me help you…" Giovanni raised the bed into a sitting position to make it easier for Red to eat, and then grabbed a spoon off the food tray.

Red looked confused but soon comprehended that Giovanni intended on spoon feeding him. As Giovanni placed the spoon by Red's mouth Red opened up and allowed the food to be placed in his mouth. The course was slow, taking nearly an hour of slow chewing for Red to finish off the tray. "Feeling better?" Giovanni asked sounding concerned.

Red scowled at Giovanni. He was the reason for him being in this sorry shape after all.

Giovanni sighed, "Red… first let me ask you, do you know why I formed Team Rocket?"

Red's facial features contorted, he'd never really thought about why Team Rocket did what they did… Just that they were inhumanly cruel to everything, "…M… Money… Power…" Red muttered trying to get his vocal muscles to respond properly.

Giovanni shook his head, "You're wrong… Money and power make great motivators to get people to do what I need, but you're not like other people, so I think you should know the truth." Giovanni stared into Red's eyes completely serious, "The world needs to change…"

Red stared back confused, "Wh… What?"

"This may be hard for you to understand now…" Giovanni thought through his words carefully, "But this world is much more corrupt than you could ever imagine... Across the world are groups exploiting people and Pokémon alike for their own selfish ambitions, and the governments of the world allow it. Try to understand, I used to try doing things the… "right" way. But eventually you find out that the people in power are already bought and paid for and could care less about the concerns you bring to them. I gave them all the chance to reach a mutual decision and they declined. Now as Team Rocket I will change the world by force."

Red shook his head, "You… you can't just have your way all the time!"

Giovanni laughed, "This isn't about me Red… it's much greater than that! It's about the world! You have great potential to help change the world which is why I need you on my side; to battle the wrongs of the world with Team Rocket!"

Red stood by his convictions, "You can't just walk all over people and hurt them when they don't agree with you, it's not right!"

Giovanni's eyes shadowed over, "So this is the real you that was buried yesterday."

Red's strong gaze returned to confusion. He realized the train of thought he'd put himself through the past couple of days to avoid being shocked had slipped away from him now that he had eaten and was feeling better.

"Sometimes…" Giovanni started, "Sometimes there is no other choice… nothing that can be done to spare everyone… You're faced with either let some die… or let all die… It's a hard choice to make… but it must be made. Sometimes the bumpy road is the only one that leads to the happy ending." Giovanni towered over Red's bed making him feel intimidated, but he did his best not to show it even in his weakened state.

Giovanni reached down and lifted Red off the bed. Red was really confused now as he was being carried out of the medical room and down the hall. This entire area seemed to be empty. There wasn't another person or Pokémon to be seen.

The two of them reached a large door at the far side of the hall that Giovanni opened by punching in numbers on a keypad to the side of the door. The lights came on inside shortly after the door opened, and Giovanni carried Red inside.

Red looked around the room. It was a traditional style living area. The décor was simple, but was laden with different technological gadgets, many of which Red didn't recognize. Some lights came on dimly in the corner of the room revealing a large bed on which Giovanni laid Red on.

Red was still unsure of what was going to happen until Giovanni's hand reached down Red's pants and began unbuckling his belt. Red started struggling as his clothes were being pulled off, but his muscles still weren't completely cooperating after the shock treatments. Giovanni himself was also very strong from the strict training regiment he put himself through.

Giovanni pulled Red's jeans down his legs and off his feet and tossed them to the side. Giovanni then slid his fingers under the band of Red's boxer shorts and pulled them off as well. Red was barely able to squeak out, "Please… don't…"

Giovanni's face darkened and his resolve seemed to strengthen. Red's eyes widened as Giovanni began to disrobe himself. The man was very muscular. He lowered himself onto Red and immediately locked his lips in a heated kiss. Red's muscles were too drained to do anything but lie in submission.

Red tried to push Giovanni away, but with one hand Giovanni was able to pin both of Red's arms above his head and continue his treatment. Giovanni forced himself onto the boy taking measures to cause him pain without damaging his body.

Giovanni bent over the boy to look at his face, and noticed the tears finally falling from the boy's eyes. "You're confused aren't you?" Giovanni spoke quietly into Red's ear, "It hurts so much but at the same time feels good. And so you ask yourself, how can something that's causing me so much pain bring me pleasure at the same time?" Red didn't comment, "It only hurts in the beginning, once over the initial shock you realize it's not completely a bad thing, in fact something well could come of this…"

Red's tears continued to flow. He had never felt this way in his life. The entire time he could only wonder why no one had come for him. Why was he abandoned to this?

Once it was over and Red was left with nothing but confusion his mental walls finally collapsed and he began to bawl like a small child. Red huddled helpless in the corner of his mind as his world shattered. It was so dark and he suddenly felt very alone.

Red continued to cry as loud as his lungs allowed for a long time. The entire time Giovanni persisted to cradle the boy in his arms. Once Red began to calm and only a minor bout of hyperventilation remained, Giovanni leaned in closer to kiss Red on the cheek.

"I know you feel destroyed right now Red, but I promise you I will be here for you… I promise you that I will fix you…" He turned the boy around to stare deep into his dark red eyes, "because I love you." His lips ghosted over the boys in a slow feathered kiss. He pulled the boy's head to his shoulder and held him close until he fell asleep.

______________________________


	3. Pallet

Pallet

3 years later…

It was a cool spring night, a light breeze wisped through the area of Pallet Town. Lights shown through the windows of the modest homes and several scents of evening supper floated on the wind.

"Have you been sulking here all day?" Blue was lying on the ground on the outskirts of town staring up at the stars as Green approached him. He gave her a stare that read he wasn't interested in whatever she had to say.

Green however didn't care if Blue was interested or not and sat down close to him, "Will you at least tell me what's on your mind?" Blue's mouth scrunched and Green got the impression that he did want to talk about it but his tough guy exterior forbade it. "You know you can tell me anything, and that I already have my mind made up about you Blue."

Blue's eyes closed for a moment thinking about it. Sighing he finally said, "Today's his birthday."

Green's expression immediately fell into a frown as well and she sank onto the ground by Blue's side, "I… I had forgotten."

"You've moved on… and that's alright, it's something we all should do." Blue sighed again, "It's almost been three years since he disappeared after all.

Green didn't want to think like that though; she could still remember vividly what it was like three years ago. She remembered Blue took it pretty rough. It was at the Pokémon League tournament. They were all there. The board with the contestants appeared and no Red was on it. Blue was furious and demanded to know why his rival wasn't on the board. The League administration only said no one had registered under that name.

It was amazing how many friends Red had made that all seemed to have come expecting to see him in the tournament. Half of the audience could only stare in silence at the lack of a special young boy's name not appearing on the register.

Blue waited at the exit of Victory Road until the very last moment before he needed to be up for his match. He couldn't believe Red could be late for something like this. In his anger he held nothing back and wiped the floor with his opponents. The tournament dragged on and the finals approached and still Red had not arrived.

When Blue's opponent stepped up to the field to begin the final match of the tournament it just didn't feel right. It was supposed to be Red standing there against him ready for a dramatic clash between the two boys from Pallet Town. This was supposed to be their time for the grand battle to end all Pokémon battles.

The crowd grew silent as Blue's Charizard tore through the other finalist's Pokémon with relative ease. Blue didn't even bother putting on a show to make it look like he was putting forth effort. Blue's Charizard stomped down on his opponent's fallen Magmar and let loose a mighty howl which echoed through the arena. Though the man facing Blue was older and thought to be the more experienced, he had quickly fallen in battle to the strength Blue's Pokémon possessed. Blue shook his head disappointed. Red would have used some kind of inconceivable tactic to make the battle much more interesting…

Blue was crowned the League Champion yet he couldn't get over how empty the title felt. He swore he was going to kill Red when he found him for not being there. Time passed though and nothing. The good gym leaders of Kanto spread the word and left missing posters in all the Poké Centers in the region.

Green had found one lead during this entire time. Once the tournament had ended she asked several citizens in Viridian City if perhaps a boy of Red's description had passed through recently. One little girl swore she saw him. She said she was saved from angry Pokémon in the Viridian Forest by Red just before the start of the tournament. She even named his Pokémon.

The girl, Yellow, told Green that once Red saved her he had gone to challenge the Viridian Gym Leader. As far as Green knew, Viridian City had no gym leader. Once she got across the lake she saw Viridian no longer had a gym. The entire building had been demolished, the ground around it horribly scarred from what appeared to be a grand battle.

Green walked through the rubble trying to piece together the battle. There were the heavy footprints of a Snorlax. There was a straight line of burnt soil emanating from a round ditch in the ground. The burns weren't caused by flames though; she could tell this was Solar Beam's effect. There were trenches dug all across the field, and what appeared to be a huge gaping crag that looked as if something huge had been dragged through it. There were also shards of still solid ice scattered about, and a few of them contained Gyarados scales.

That was the time it started to sink into Green's head that something horrible had happened. She needed to find out more. She turned to go back into the city and interrogate more people when she almost collided into Blue who was standing behind her. He grabbed her hand and examined the frozen scale. A shocked look crossed his face which quickly transformed into a scowl. Blue turned and walked back to his Charizard.

"The people here know nothing…" Blue said preparing to leave.

"There has to be someone who knows more!" Green knew she was going to be asking anyway.

A 'hmph' sound escaped Blue's throat, "They were all too scared from the noise of the battle to even come out of their homes. All of them are afraid of the Pokémon monsters inhabiting the forest. So now no one knows what happened to Red once the battle here ended…"

Blue flew off on Charizard to begin his own search as Green returned to town and asked everyone she could if they knew what happened at the gym. She found the little girl Yellow and pleaded for more information from her. The girl was practically in tears.

"I wanted to watch, but my parents wouldn't let me leave the house…"

Green apologized and continued asking others. Just who exactly was the Gym Leader? Not a single person knew…

Without any other leads to go on, Green continued her search until finally a day came a year later that after an exhaustive search through every forest, field, and cave in Kanto she returned home empty handed.

Green knew Blue continued on, always his eyes open to anything that could lead to his rival's… his friend's whereabouts. And now almost three years later they both laid here staring at the sky still not any closer to solving this mystery than they were in the beginning.

A tear fell from Green's eye, "Happy fourteenth Red…"

Blue turned his head toward the girl next to him, "You OK?"

"Are you?" she replied instantly.

Blue sat up and still looking up at the sky replied, "I'm fine," his expression returning its usual stoic state.

"What do you see up there?" Green asked.

Blue smirked for a second, "It's just… I don't know, but… I look up there and I can still feel him out there. I know he's still alive."

Green sat up and scooted closer to Blue, "Yeah… I can feel it too."

The two sat still and quiet for a while; neither daring to break the silence as they continued to stare at the stars above. A flash of movement caught Blue's attention; his eyes squinted as he stared at a falling star. "No way…" he whispered standing up.

"What is it?" Green whispered back.

"Is it… the same as that night…?" Blue watched as the streak of light falling from the sky came closer and closer.

"What night?" Green asked confused.

"The night I met him…" The streak of light was almost on top of them, and humming noise could be heard.

Green stared at the light that was beginning to light up the forest, "I don't understand, what happened that night?"

Blue looked down at her, "We fought Mew…"

The light curved sharply as it sped by only several feet above their heads, a high pitched cry echoed through the trees as it flew by.

"It is… the phantom Pokémon," Green watched in awe as it just flew by like nothing.

Blue chased after it following it into a clearing deep within the forest. The glow around Mew's body diminished and it simply floated around the clearing as if it were playing.

Once he was within a good striking distance, Blue threw out a Poké Ball releasing Charizard to tackle the psychic phantom. "The same as before, but we've come a long way since back then…" Mew's reflection shone in Charizard's fiery eyes as they all seemed to take in the familiarity of it. Charizard took to the air blowing fire blasts at the smaller Pokémon. Charizard attacked ferociously, following Mew through the air as it flew about the clearing. Mew seemed to only laugh playfully as it dodged each of Charizard's attacks with ease.

Blue shook his head as he watched Mew's aerial antics, "And yet it still wasn't enough…" He recalled Charizard to the Poké Ball and began to walk away.

Green stared seemingly awestruck, "That's it? You just give up?"

Blue turned to face the girl, no real expression apparent on his face, "Did you see the way it dodged all of Charizard's most powerful attacks? It's beyond my level still. As a trainer it's important to know your limits."

Green turned around to see the Mew watching them carefully. Its head tilted as if confused. "It's like Mew doesn't know why you're just walking away either."

Not bothering to stop, Blue replied, "Mew's primary class is psychic; it knows exactly why I'm walking away."

Green looked back and saw the mew watching them, "So why is it still staring at us for?"

Blue finally stopped and turned to look at the floating Pokémon. Taking a moment to judge the confused expression on Mew's face Blue looked back to Green, "It's because Mew also knows there's something missing here…" With that final comment, Blue turned and walked away.

Green watched the phantom Pokémon for a moment longer until it just waved its paw as in a gesture of goodbye and floated off in the other direction. "Amazing… even Mew misses you Red…"

___________________________


	4. Marsh Badge

Marsh Badge

Misty sat at a table under an umbrella on top of Celadon City's largest department store aimlessly sipping on iced lemonade.

The door to the roof opened and Erika stepped out walking over to Misty's table. She smiled and gave a courteous bow as she sat down, "Sorry I'm late."

"Don't worry about it," Misty said without much emotion. Erika would have been concerned with Misty's attitude, but Misty had been like this for a long time now. It was one of the reasons she wanted to spend more time with the other girl lately.

"Thanks for coming by the way… it's been so long since the both of us have had a free day to enjoy together." Erika smiled as brightly as she could.

Misty gave Erika a shallow smile, "You were in Cerulean earlier this month."

Erika shook her head, "Twice a month isn't enough friend time!" Erika smiled more sweetly.

Misty's eyes narrowed, "You're certainly are smiley today."

"Well one of us has to be, and since it doesn't seem to be you right now," The robed girl chuckled.

Misty rested her head in her hands as she leaned against the table, "I suppose you're right… but I just really haven't felt like smiling much at all since… well about three years ago…" Misty said sullenly.

Erika sighed; it always came to this with Misty lately. "Misty… we tried everything. We searched under every stone in Kanto. You can't keep begrudging yourself like this."

"I know, believe me I know… it's just…" Misty thought back to the day Red had gone missing. She remembered how she was so upset when she found out a gym match had been scheduled for her on the day of the tournament. Once the challenger arrived she made quick work of the poor boy and swiftly rode off to the League Tournament grounds.

It was already late into the semi-finals when she arrived and immediately her heart sank when she noticed Red's name not on the list of competitors who had made it this far. She had brought Red a gift and hoped that maybe it would cheer him up then for not making it to the top of the event.

She was walking toward the registrant area to check and see where Red would be at and found the other Pallet boy, Blue, standing out in front of the tournament grounds just staring at the exit to victory road.

Blue's foot was tapping impatiently as he stared with unblinking eyes. A sudden chill crept up Misty's spine as she approached him, "Blue?" she asked quietly. He didn't so much respond to her as much as his eyes just shifted to her direction, "What's wrong?"

Blue's eyes moved back to the cave exit, "Red's not here, he never made it to the tournament today."

Misty's eyes widened, "No way… that can't be right. This was the only thing on his mind for the past few weeks…"

Blue nodded, "The sun is setting now and no one has seen him or heard from him in days it seems." Blue gritted his teeth and threw a Poké Ball. His Charizard emerged and let out a fiery roar, "I'm going to look for him…" He mounted his flying Pokémon, preparing to begin a search.

"Blue, wait!" Misty called up to him. Blue looked down with an impatient glance, "You can't go! You're still an active participant in the tournament."

An annoyed laugh escaped Blue's lips, "You think it would mean anything to me winning this tournament without knowing I was up against him?"

"I know what you mean, but Red would still want it to be someone from Pallet who takes home the title. Win this for him and I'll go look for him now."

Blue hopped off his Charizard, and with a "humph" he recalled his Pokémon to its ball, "Alright, but when you find him, bring him to see me so I can personally kick his ass for not being here today."

Misty nodded, and turned to run toward Victory Road. All this dread she'd been building up that whole week began to surface. Everything she'd pushed off as being anxiety for the tournament was rearing an ugly new head.

Misty searched through every chamber and cavern of Victory road, but found no evidence of Red's passage through the area. Once out on the other side she quickly called her fellow gym leaders from her cell phone.

Within hours gym members from the good gyms across Kanto had combed throughout the region, checking in every Poké Center and speaking with every police agency searching for Red. All of them had the same thing to report… That no one had any information on where Red could be. It was as if one moment Red had made it to Viridian City, and the next he simply fell off the face of the earth.

By the next day missing person flyers with Red's picture on it had been placed in every Poké Center in the country. After a week of exhaustive searching though, many of the gym members calmed their efforts.

When Misty got word that they were giving up the search she became infuriated, "NO! We have to keep looking! He could be in serious trouble! We have to find him!"

Brock placed his hands on Misty's shoulders in a gesture to calm her, "Misty, something terrible might have happened… I've received word of three landslides on Mt. Moon this week alone. If Red was caught in something like that… Then well… There's nothing that…" Misty cut off his sentence abruptly.

"HE IS NOT DEAD! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" the girl was red with anger. Quickly however her anger turned to doubt. From doubt she broke into tears on Brock's chest.

Brock didn't know what he could possibly say to make her feel any better. He rubbed her shoulders consolingly and whispered the only thing he could think of, "I'm sorry…"

Misty wandered listlessly around her gym for weeks. She was being regarded as a living zombie by the trainers passing through. Her eyes constantly darkened by tear stains, and her complexion paled from lack of proper nutrition.

"You love him don't you?" Misty was shaken from her trance momentarily and noticed her fellow gym leader Erika standing at her side.

"I…" Misty tried to put words to how she felt for Red but, not being able to form them, she settled for a nod of the head.

Erika hugged her friend to her. "I know… and I know you're devastated right now… but please Misty, we need you to be strong… I… I need you to be strong." She held Misty tight for a moment and began to feel some of the tension leave her.

"I'll try Erika… Thank you…"

"Thank goodness," Erika sniffed debating whether or not she should even share this next bit of information with her, "The council had been discussing placing a new leader to head up the Cerulean City Gym."

"What?" Misty asked out of shock.

"With the way you've been acting lately, they wanted to place someone of strong character who would boost the morale of the gym."

Misty's posture sank a little as she thought it over. Though it had shocked her to hear it at first, she couldn't say this news was surprising either, "Maybe it would be better that way…"

Erika's head snapped up to meet Misty's gaze sharply, "NO!" Erika took a few deep breaths before continuing, "No, no, no, no, no! Misty! Listen to you! The leader of this gym must be an example of good nature and justice. That person is you. We need you to stand as an honorable gym leader for the good side." Erika wrapped her arms around Misty to hold her still for added emphasis.

Misty sighed and returned the gesture, "You're right Erika… I have to be stronger than this… thanks for believing in me…"

Erika leaned back a bit to make sure the look on Misty's face was sincere. Once she was certain, she did something Misty never expected. Erika kissed her on the lips.

Misty's eyes widened and she didn't know whether she should be disgusted or what was going on, "What… Why did you do that?"

Erika smiled sweetly as if it was normal, "For good luck," and she immediately turned to leave walking away from a very confused Misty. Misty didn't know how to take it at all. Did it mean something, was it completely innocent?

The two didn't speak of it and remained very close friends throughout the time that passed. They would meet in each other's cities when they could just to talk. Erika usually tried to avoid the topic of Red since Misty always became dreadfully depressed every time he was brought up.

Even to this day without ever mentioning his name, the mere insinuation of him made Misty look so disheartened. It made Erika want to cry on the inside seeing her that way.

Misty shook her head and snapped herself out of it for the moment, "I'm sorry, let's go do something." All wasn't completely lost though.

Erika smiled and the two got up and walked through the department store. The two of them spent a few hours browsing through the many shops. By the time they were done, each of them had several bags draped over their shoulders.

Erika was happy that Misty was laughing and in a good mood, "Miss Erika!" A young girl called running up to them through the crowd, "I finally found you Miss Erika…" The girl stammered, out of breath.

"What is it?" Erika recognized the girl as one of the Gym Attendants.

Once the girl recovered she spoke "Lady Erika, a gym challenge has been issued to you in Saffron City Gym."

Erika nodded, "Thank you for letting me know, I'll be there right away." The girl bowed and ran back to deliver the news.

Misty cocked her head at Erika, "Did I hear her say Saffron City Gym?"

Erika closed her eyes and smiled at her friend, "Yes, I know I'm sorry I never said anything."

Misty became very confused, "What?"

"You see, with three of the gym leaders missing, the council needed to find new gym leaders to take the reins for each city. Saffron City housed the psychic gym though, so you see the council couldn't find any psychics to put in the position. But since I have some psychic potential and was already the leader of a neighboring city's gym, they asked if I would be willing to lead the two gyms at the same time at least on a temporary basis and I agreed."

Misty shook her head and smiled at her friend, "You're amazing you know… two gyms at once… that's crazy! Most of us find it challenging enough to keep up with one gym. How long have you been doing this for now?"

Erika looked up at the sky and thought for a moment, "It's been over a year now… not quite two I believe… I'm not sure."

Misty looked shocked, "And I'm just barely finding out about this now?"

Erika cocked her head slightly, "I'm sorry. I suppose it hadn't struck me as being relevant to our conversations before…" Her expression returned to normal and a soft smile spread on her lips, "I know, come watch the battle at the gym. It should be fun!

Misty thought of how she'd never been to the Saffron Gym before. "Sure let's go!"

The two chatted as they hiked the short distance between the two cities and snaked their way through the metropolis of Saffron to the gym. They entered through the staff entrance and Erika retrieved the Pokémon she would use for the battle.

Misty watched anxiously wondering what kind of Pokémon Erika would be using in a psychic gym. "OK I'm ready let's go up to the arena," Erika's expression became the epitome of confidence that she always held right before a battle. Misty was so glad Erika was on her side since she knew she'd stand no chance against the trainer should they fight with their native types.

The two entered the arena through the leader's door, and Misty took a seat on the side lines.

"Alright, send in the challenger!" Erika commanded.

The attendant looked nervous but nodded. Erika took notice as she'd never seen the attendants look as they did now. This meant either the other gym members were defeated very badly, or something else was amiss…

The doors opened with such bright light behind it, all Erika could make out was a silhouette of a feminine figure with long hair. With loud ominous clacks of the shoes the girl entered the arena, "It's been quite some time… hasn't it Erika?"

Erika's eyes widened upon hearing that voice, "It couldn't be…"

The doors to the arena shut; the light in the room balanced out. Standing before Erika on the challenger side of the arena was Sabrina, the gym's old leader…

Misty stood from her seat mouth agape, "I don't believe this…"

Erika shook off her shock, "But you supposedly died in the collapse of the Silph building…"

Sabrina shook her head, "An exaggeration from the spectators, I am perfectly fine, and have returned from a long journey." A Poké Ball lifted from Sabrina's belt as if on its own accord and floated several feet in front of Sabrina, "I am not here to challenge you for your gym badge Erika, I am here to reclaim leadership over the psychic gym!"

Erika shook her head, "That is not a decision that can be settled in a battle; that must be made by the gym council!"

Sabrina unrolled an official looking document she had been holding up her sleeve, "Except you see I have spoken with the council, and as it states here in these instructions… should you lose this battle you are to relinquish leadership of the gym back to me."

Misty shook her head in disbelief… She couldn't understand how the council would agree to allow a member of Team Rocket to become a gym leader after all the trouble they caused all those years ago…

Sabrina looked right at Misty, "Team Rocket is long since dissolved since the day of the Silph incident. The council is aware of this and also that since then I have been traveling the world training further to become a better gym leader than I ever was before."

Misty gritted her teeth… how she hated it when psychics invaded her private thoughts. She was so glad Erika never did anything like that…

Erika was still taking in everything that Sabrina had said, "It appears you speak the truth then… Fine. But just because you have turned over a new leaf, do not expect me to hand over control so easily."

"It wouldn't be worth it if this was an easy battle," the expression of Sabrina's face still rarely changed.

Erika nodded, "Then let us begin…" Erika removed a Poké Ball from her belt and it floated from her hand and opened releasing a Natu.

Sabrina nodded, "A psychic bird, very well, Go Alakazam!" the Poké Ball that had been floating in front of Sabrina popped open and an Alakazam formed in front of her, "Use Confusion."

A light emanated from the Alakazam which seemed to invert the colors of the room. Natu took the damage but its thoughts remained clear.

"Natu, I want you to use Night Shade." Natu enveloped Alakzam in a field of Darkness and dealt a strong blow.

"So it knows a ghost type attack…" Sabrina stated emotionlessly, "It's a shame that's the only anti-psychic attack it knows… Disable."

Alakazam threw a sphere of light which impacted Natu's head causing the last move it used to be locked.

Erika shook her head, "Natu's psychic moves are still powerful in their own right, use future sight."

Natu peered into the future and saw a huge burst of mental energy would strike Alakazam.

"It's nothing Alakazam won't be able to easily take, use Calm Mind." An aura surrounded Alakazam raising its psychic attack and defense, "Now strike Natu with Psybeam." Alakazam began to build energy for its attack.

Erika calmly intervened, "Natu, Me First." The Natu jumped into Alakazam's face using Psybeam first with power boosted higher than Alakazam's own. The attack connected but did not appear to be very damaging.

"I thought as much, Alakazam, unleash your Psybeam now." Alakazam's Psybeam went off and impacted the small green bird. Natu began to stumble around as if in a daze.

"No it's confused…" Misty muttered to herself as she watched.

A small grin appeared in Erika's face as time caught up with Alakazam. A time vortex appeared over head and a strong stream of psychic energy impacted the Pokémon. Alakazam fell to the ground in a heap.

"Your Pokémon can't take much more battling." Erika stated calmly.

Sabrina's mouth curled into a slight grin at this, "I'm afraid it can take much more than this, Alakazam, Recover." Alakazam's body began to glow brightly. As the light faded it was back on its feet looking perfectly fine.

This frustrated Erika some; she knew she would have to get Natu's health back up as well to keep fighting against Alakazam. "Natu, Wish."

Natu turned and looked at Erika still confused. Misty slapped her forhead, the look reminded her too much of a Psyduck's… Erika's mouth agape she was unprepared for the next attack.

"Psychic," Sabrina stated simply. The Alakazam gathered its energies into its most powerful psychic blast and threw it at the small psychic bird. The bird was tossed to the side and fluttered around on the ground not able to get back on its feet.

"Return," the Poké Ball retrieved Natu from the field and floated back to Erika's hand. She looked up at her challenger and threw in her next Pokémon, "Go Kirlia."

Misty watched in awe as she saw a Kirlia for the first time. The beautiful small Pokémon appeared floating several inches above the ground. "Attack with Magical Leaf." The Kirlia pulled out a leaf, charging it with psychic energy it was shot at the Alakazam.

Sabrina's eyes widened as she saw the large attack flying toward her Pokémon, "Use Protect, don't let it hit you."

"Impossible…" Erika commented as the leaf negated Alakazam's protect and hit at full force.

The Alakazam was thrown off of its feet and slid a few meters backward.

"Now while it's not expecting it, finish this with Thunderbolt." Kirlia began to spin building up crackles of lightning around it. Once charged, Kirlia unleashed the out of element attack on the unsuspecting Alakazam. Once the light and crackling faded, Alakazam laid there smoking.

"Return," Sabrina recalled her Alakazam and another ball floated out from under her cloak. Sabrina stared at the ball for a moment as if contemplating to open it or not, "Go Sableye." The Poké Ball opened and a very short purple Pokémon with a huge head appeared on the battlefield.

Mysty had heard about Sableyes before but also had never seen one up close. They were recently discovered in caves. They lived their entire lives in pure darkness and feasted upon precious gems. It was a Dark Ghost type Pokémon… the perfect anti-psychic creature…

Erika seemed not to know as much about this Pokémon though, "Kirlia use Confusion."

Misty had to restrain herself from shouting "NO!" from her seat.

Erika's Kirlia used Confusion with elegant precision; however the attack had absolutely no effect on Sableye.

"Shadow Sneak," Sabrina gave the order and Sableye slowly faded from vision seeming to have simply disappeared.

Erika looked around confused, and then the Pokémon appeared in Kirlia's shadow, hitting her from behind. Kirlia fell forward landing hard on her face. "It's a Dark type…" Erika was regretting using Natu first now. "Kirlia, get up and use Miracle Leaf."

Kirla pushed herself from the ground and turned to stare at the Sableye. Pulling out another leaf and charging it with energy she shot it at the smaller Pokémon.

Sableye took the hit, but it did only normal damage. "Now use Shadow Ball." Sableye lifted into the air and a ball of pure darkness formed before it. Erika watched helpless as her Kirlia had no attack capable of countering the ghost move and took the full attack. The ball burst over Kirlia's body and flung her off the sidelines of the arena. The little Pokémon tried to push herself up from the ground after the attack, but quickly collapsed. Erika sighed and retrieved her Pokémon to its Poké Ball.

Misty stared in disbelief. The match couldn't end like this… Erika turned to her opponent and bowed, "This match and the gym are yours Sabrina."

Sabrina nodded recalling her Sableye. She stepped over to Erika, her shoes continued to make the echoing clacks as she walked across the arena floor. Her hand extended and Erika wordlessly handed her the badges to be given to successful challengers.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have much preparation to commence. The Council wants me to incorporate Dark Pokémon into this gym for the Kanto region."

A wave of anger passed over Misty. Of course the council would approve her return if she made a proposal like that… Having a gym for Dark Pokémon in Kanto would mean more gym members. And more gym members of course meant more money…

"I see…" Erika stated looking as emotionless as Sabrina, "I shall remove my personal belongings immediately then," Erika turned and exited through the leader's door and Misty followed her. She couldn't help but throw an untrusting glare at Sabrina. Sabrina's expression didn't change; her eyes merely followed Misty until the girl left the room.

Erika was packing her belongings from the leader's chamber into a bag, "Oh Misty, I'm really sorry, but do you think you could assist me in carrying these to the Celadon Gym?" Erika asked looking her cheerful self again.

Misty looked disapprovingly, "Of course I'll help you, but are you alright?"

"Of course I am."

Misty shook her head, "You don't feel bad for losing this kind of a battle or at least get the feeling something is going on?"

Erika shook her head, "As I told you, this assignment was supposed to be temporary for me anyway, so I'm not attached to this gym in any way. If you're asking if I feel something is going on with Sabrina's sudden return… I can't really say. I detected no evidence of deceit in her mind during our talk. There's no reason then why I shouldn't go along with the council's decision and let her have control of the gym back. She is far more experienced in psychic combat than I am after all."

"Well my intuition still says she shouldn't be trusted," Misty couldn't help but voice.

Erika sighed, "I know what you mean," she quickly smiled in response, "But what can you do?"

Misty shook her head, "Well let's get going then." The two of them took the bags of Erika's belongings from the gym and began walking back to Celadon City.

Sabrina stood atop the tower of the gym watching the two girls leave. Once they passed from her field of view the cell phone in her pocket started to ring, "Yes?" she answered. "Yes, it's done. Saffron is under our control once again…"

____________________________


	5. Returned

Returned

The SS. Anne docked into the Vermillion City Harbor, and with a loud blow of the whistle the ramps lowered allowing the passengers to disembark. Cheers came from the people below as their friends and family returned mostly from vacation or just visiting from Johto and Hoenn.

Waiting by the docks was a tall man with spiky blond hair wearing a black leather jacket over a camouflaged muscle shirt and a dark pair of sunglasses. The former gym leader to the Vermillion gym Lt. Surge watched the faces of the coming passengers as he waited mildly disguised by a black car.

A cocky smile crossed his face as a man wearing a formal business suit came into view. The man with slicked back black hair and dark sunglasses was slowly making his way down the bridge. Hidden by the amount of people surrounding them was a short boy at his side wearing a black short sleeved pullover with the hood over his head, the front end of a cap sticking out from the hood, donning sunglasses over his eyes as well.

"Welcome back to Kanto boss," Surge bowed as the two approached him. He looked over at the boy on his side, "Grown up a little bit there aye runt?" Surge teased.

A half grin formed on the boy's mouth.

"Let's get moving," The three of them got in the car and started driving north. The man removed his sunglasses, "Did everything go according to plan?"

"Yes sir, Sabrina convinced the gym leader council on the deal and was able to beat planty girl out of the Saffron gym. That leaves Saffron city pretty much under our control. No one ever caught on to site B while you were away either. All the troops have been pretty obedient; no one has gone out in uniform in the last three years. As far as the world is concerned Team Rocket is ancient history," Surge laughed.

"Well… History is about to start a new chapter. Right Red?" Giovanni smiled at the boy seated next to him

Red pulled off the hood and the sunglasses, "I'm ready."

The car pulled into the site B lot. It was a building at least as tall as the old Silph building. There was an underground parking garage they used to avoid any remaining prying eyes in the city. Giovanni had specifically ordered that it was of the utmost importance that Team Rocket keep a low profile over the last few years.

The gym leaders hadn't been seen except for recently. Giovanni took Red out of the country for training so they could avoid recognition as missing posters with Red's picture on them had been plastered all over the country side. Everything was falling into place and they had a huge element of surprise on their side.

Sabrina and Koga welcomed Giovanni back to the control center with a bow as they entered the control area. "Good to see you sir" Sabrina stated formally.

Giovanni smiled and lifted a hand to end the formalities. "It's good to be home, now we have a lot to discuss so let's get the general's meeting underway." Giovanni took a seat at the end of a large table.

The three gym leaders took seats at the sides of the table. Red was about to take the seat by Lt. Surge when Koga spoke up, "This is the leader's meeting boy, you can go play while we take care of business."

"Koga…" all eyes turned to Giovanni who was throwing a very disapproving glare in Koga's direction, "Red is now one of the Team Rocket leaders on equal level as the three of you. He is being assigned his own troop legions as of tomorrow. You will treat him with respect." Koga looked shocked, "Now on to business."

Koga glared at Red and caught the boy sticking his tongue out at him. He was not happy about this decision.

Giovanni began, "We have several important projects in line which are going to have to be dealt with in a systematic manner. First we must reestablish the laboratories to launch the new research efforts. In order to do this we must secure proper trade routes between ourselves and our remote facilities. During my time outside the country I was able to set up trade agreements with other organizations which means we're going to have to establish international trade routes also. This is going to be a large undertaking as we've always been limited as far as our influence goes in the areas of the northern Kanto border. "

"Sir," Koga spoke up, "I've lead several expeditions throughout my time with Team Rocket to the northern areas. I am best familiar with the area and trials we face for expansion through those cities. I know a calculated two-point strike would be our best choice of action to silence those who would cause us trouble."

Giovanni nodded, "Good, then we can commence aggressive expansion on schedule."

"We do have one setback sir," Sabrina spoke looking down with her arms crossed. "It's the Elite Four sir, it would appear after the Silph building was destroyed that they removed several of our top secret inventions. Several of our spies have taken note that they appear to be implementing them for some large scale scheme on their island."

"That could be troublesome indeed… We can't afford the Elite Four's plans conflicting with our own. We may have to intervene and retrieve our stolen technology." Giovanni leaned back in thought.

"The Elite Four have quite the army themselves sir," Lt. Surge opened a notebook and flipped through his reconnaissance information on the Elite Four's island. "A full frontal assault would not be a wise decision sir. We would suffer large casualties which could cripple our other advances."

"Agreed the Elite Four are not to be taken lightly," Giovanni looked over at Red, "We need more information on what they're doing… Sabrina I want you to lead more spies to the Elite's island and find out exactly what it is they're using our devices for."

Sabrina nodded, "Absolutely sir."

"While that is going on we will begin preparations to invade the northern cities of Kanto. Koga, you will head up operations there. I want to see all of the reports and information you've collected on the area right away. Then you, Surge, and Red will devise the best strategy for take over."

Koga sighed once he heard he'd be working with Red, "Yes sir…"

"One other thing before you're dismissed. I am placing the capture of the phantom Pokémon back on the priority one list when not in combat. Understood?"

All four of the generals nodded, "Yes sir."

"Good, that is all for now then."

The four of them stood up to leave. Sabrina remained and leaned closer to Giovanni, "May I speak with you in private sir?"

"Yes," Giovanni replied simply.

Red watched their interaction with interest until he stepped out of the office and closed the door behind him.

"Is this about…"

"Yes sir, I just wanted to know why you've decided to make him a general." Sabrina stood stoic.

"Do you detect any reason I shouldn't?" Sabrina was taken aback by the question.

After thinking about it she shook her head, "He is very skilled as a trainer. And I feel nothing but loyalty to you from him now."

"The he'll do fine," Giovanni stated plainly.

"Koga doesn't believe he's ready for a position of that kind of responsibility given his age."

"Koga will get over it."

Sabrina stood quiet for a moment, "Giovanni… I've never asked you what you did to him to radically change him the way you did… but whatever it was, given his past, do you really think he's stable?"

A smile formed on Giovanni's face, "Don't worry about that, he is completely devoted to Team Rocket now."

Sabrina nodded, "That was all then." She turned to leave her bosses office, she put her hand on the doorknob, "And it's good to have you back sir, we all missed you very much." Sabrina swallowed hard before exiting the room.

Giovanni watched her go and smiled to himself once the door shut. "We, huh?"

Giovanni waited for Koga to bring him the reports he had asked for before retiring to his bedroom. He opened the door and took relief at how everything was still as he'd left it. The large room was his personal sanctuary with a couch nestled in front of a large HD television; his large "C" desk had a computer which was connected directly to the building's mainframe from here. He set his paper work down on it and heard a ruffling sound coming from the dark corner of the room. He suppressed the smile that wanted to form and turned on the lights over that part of his room revealing Red comfortably sprawled on his bed in a provocative pose.

"You still remembered the access code did you?"

Red smiled and nodded. It had been over two years since he'd last used it, but it was an important number after all.

Giovanni decided to toy with the boy, "Sorry but I'm going to be busy for a while, I have to go over all of these reports and all you know…" Giovanni sat at his desk and started flipping through the papers Koga gave him.

"Well… How long are you going to be?" Giovanni smiled now that his face was turned away from Red and he couldn't be seen.

Giovanni mustered up as much seriousness in his voice as he could, "Probably a few hours here."

Red started to feel disheartened when he noticed Giovanni's shoulder shutter, then he knew the man was only pretending to be serious, "Man what a shame… Oh well I'll just go to sleep then, wake me in the morning," He playfully yawned and closed his eyes while rolling away from the man.

Red felt a weight press down on the bed around him. Opening his eyes he saw Giovanni smiling down at him. Giovanni loved just watching Red. He admired how nicely the boy had developed over the last several years of training. "The papers can wait."

"Thought so," Red wrapped his arms around Giovanni's neck to pull him down for a kiss. Giovanni's tongue probed around Red's mouth as his hands ventured down Red's sides.

Red pulled the man down to the bed and offered himself willingly to the man's desire. The lights dimmed and the room warmed with passion.

An hour later, clothes were strewn all around the bed, and the two of them lied under the sheets entangled in each other and catching their breath.

Giovanni's hand stroked through Red's wild hair, "Oh I love you Red..."

Red smiled as he nestled his face into Giovanni's neck, "I love you too."

The two refused to separate from each other until sleep claimed them for the night.

________________________________


	6. Phoenicia

Thanks for the first review on Xajora! Basically when I started writing this story I used my magical mind gazer machine to peer into the hidden thoughts of fanfic writers and look for good ideas! Haha, no actually it was a thought that crossed my mind the moment I read that part of the manga myself. And then I pondered over the idea for several months when suddenly bam! The full plot just hit me and I had to write it all down right away so I could fill it out and make a story from it. This is only the beginning! If I stick to the outline I have planned out for the story it will end up being about 32 chapters long by the time it's done. Of course I'm purposefully keeping the chapters short so I can update more often… but there's still quite a series of events and a lot of havoc in store for this world. I certainly will do my best to keep the quality of the story from disappointing anyone, but I'm always open and welcome suggestions or even if all you do is point out a mistake I made. That's fine with me just so long as I know people are reading the story.

OK well on to the new chapter!

______________________________

Phoenicia

"OK Starmie, finish it with Bubblebeam!" Misty commanded and her Pokémon instantly complied. A fierce wave of bubbles impacted the opposing Vibrava, knocking it from the air. It fell into the pool of Cerulean Gym's Arena and didn't appear to be able to get out.

"Oh no!" the boy who was Misty's challenger on the other side of the gym panicked as he watched his Vibrava look like it was drowning.

Finally the Vibrava stopped moving and just floated on the surface of the pool and the boy recalled it, "Return!"

Misty smiled at the younger boy, "Anything else?"

The boy sighed, "No… you win…"

"Don't sweat it kid, just keep training and come back again. Capture a few more Pokémon and train them well and maybe you'll get yourself a Cascade Badge someday." Misty recalled the Starmie to its Poké Ball and stepped away from the arena.

"Thanks a lot Miss Gym Leader, I'll be back!" and the kid ran off to the Poké Center.

Misty sighed. Rambunctious energetic young boys like that were constantly coming to challenge her lately. She did her best not to let the memories of the past effect her during the battles, but if anything they made her fight fiercer. None of them were worthy of the badge like Red was.

There she went actually bringing up his name again… She shook her head throwing out the thought. Walking back to the Gym Leader's private room, Misty took a seat and stared at the static filled screen attached to the wall.

Misty knew she shouldn't do this… If she did she was only going to feel worse… Somehow she just couldn't help it though. Grabbing the remote control, she entered a few commands and the screen started to play back a video file.

The video was of the gym battle between her and Red. She laughed as she saw herself in the video. She'd grown quite a bit in the last three years. Looking over Red she wondered how much he'd changed too. He had always worn that red open vest and his red Pokémon league cap which was normally turned backwards.

She turned away from the screen as a few tears leaked down her face. She wanted to kick herself for still hurting like this after so long. Wiping her eyes with her forearm, Misty got up from her chair walked right over to a small metal trash can by the desk in her ready room and kicked it at the wall. Doing so hurt her bare foot a great deal, but she hardly cared at the moment.

Misty reached over on the desk and grabbed the phone. She really hated doing this… hated using other people like this… It was getting late in the day even… but she needed to get out…

"Hello? Erika?" Misty spoke into the phone making sure her voice sounded well composed.

"Hi Misty! How are you today?" Erika spoke in a manner in which her smile could actually be heard over the phone.

"Hey, great! I was just calling to find out if you wanted to do anything tonight?"

There was a brief moment of silence. A normal person would have probably dismissed it, but Misty frowned realizing her overly empathic friend had probably already figured out something was wrong.

"That sounds great Misty! I just have a gym match scheduled in about thirty minutes and I'll be free after that."

Misty nodded to herself, "Alright, that should work out perfectly. If I leave now then I should get there right as you you're finishing your match."

"Actually…" Erika spoke softly into the phone making Misty worry, "I saw on the news feed that there's a live play at the Cerulean Arts Center that I really wanted to see. I had actually been thinking of calling you up and finding out if you wanted to come with me to see it myself."

The tension broke away from Misty's face, "That would be very nice actually."

"Then as soon as my match is over I'll get a ride over to Cerulean so it shouldn't take me too long. The play starts at eight thirty."

"OK, see you then. Good luck with your match!"

"Thank you!" Erika giggled over the line before hanging up.

Misty smiled to herself realizing she hadn't even asked Erika what the play was called. She really could have cared less though, it was going to be good to get out and do something. She walked by the TV realizing she hadn't shut off the video. Rather than press the power button, Misty pulled the cord right out of the wall to stop it and busied herself around the gym for a bit.

When there were no matches going on, other functions took place in the gym. Like right now some of the senior members were giving swimming lessons to children. There were a few Dewgong lifeguarding the pool area while several Merill and Azurill were acting as pool floaters for the kids.

Upon seeing Misty, one of the gym members ran up to her, "Excuse me, Miss Misty, could you help me out with something?"

Mist smiled at the young trainer, "Sure what is it?"

"Well… You see I've never used a TM before… and I'm trying to figure out how to make it work. I must not be doing it right because my Pokémon isn't learning it…"

Misty tilted her head at the girl, "Can you show me?"

"Uh-huh," the girl led Misty to where she left her Piplup and the technical machine she was trying to teach it. Misty took a look at the two. The Piplup wasn't a weak low level or anything… and the TM was for Water Pulse which even though it was a newer move should still work just fine…

"Do you mind if I give it a try?" Misty asked the girl.

"No, please do!" the trainer bowed and watched.

Misty took the machine and showed it to the Piplup, "OK now Piplup, what this is going to do is help you lean a new move. I'm going to put the machine on your head, and it's going to teach you how to do it, alright?"

The Piplup looked up at Misty and nodded, "Pip!"

Misty put the machine on the small penguin's head and pressed the button on it. The two waited but nothing happened.

"Is it supposed to do something?" The girl asked when she noticed Misty staring oddly at the device.

"Yeah, it is…" Misty pulled the machine off Piplup's head and took a look at the data disk on the inside. "Oh," she said recognizing the problem, "This TM has already been used, and you can only use a TM once before their interface wears out."

The girl looked at Misty sadly, "Really? But I haven't used it!"

Misty thought for a moment, "Well, where did you find it?"

"I bought it from a man in Saffron City today…" The girl answered.

Misty's expression sank. She couldn't believe this. Probably someone saw this inexperienced girl and took advantage by selling her a machine he'd already used. Misty put a hand on the girl's shoulder consolingly, "I'm sorry, but you really need to be careful when making deals with people on the street like that, especially in big cities like Saffron."

The girl looked as though she were about to cry, "I should have known something wasn't right… He made it sound like he was giving me such a good deal for only a month's allowance that I bought it from him…"

Misty was getting angry herself, "What did this man look like?"

The girl thought about it for a moment, "He… umm… I'm not sure, he was wearing dark sunglasses but he had blond hair… umm… he was really tall and a bit older like maybe thirty even, lot's of muscles. Oh yeah! When he opened his jacket to put the money I gave him away there was something… He was wearing a camouflage shirt that had a big R patched onto it!" Misty's face paled as the girl described the man and the girl quieted down, looking confused up at her, "Do you know him maybe?"

"Oh my god…" Misty thought for a moment, "When you were done talking with him… where did he go?"

The girl thought a bit harder, "He was with a bunch of other people all wearing black… They got into a bunch of vans and it looked like they were going toward the north road out of Saffron City… why?"

Misty got up and stumbled a bit before composing herself. Quickly she ran to a window in front of the gym and looked outside. Parked just across the street were several unmarked black vans.

Misty's heart raced in sudden panic, "Surge…" Running back to the arena area Misty started shouting, "EVERYONE OUT OF THE POOL!"

All the gym attendants looked at Misty funny for her sudden outburst when the skylight above the arena was shattered in. Everyone screamed as Magemites, Magnetons, Voltorbs, and Electrodes all began floating their way into the gym.

"NO YOU DON'T!" Misty shouted and tossed a Poké Ball. Misty was well aware of how easily an electric assault could take down a water Pokémon trainer, but was well prepared, "Go Gastrodon!"

The water slug formed and Misty just hoped it was fast enough to save everyone, "Mud Bomb!" Gastrodon spit up a huge ball of mud which floated up toward the attacking Pokémon as they charged their electric attacks. The bomb exploded covering them all in a muddy goop. The mud quickly dried grounding the static Pokémon out causing them to fall to the ground harmlessly.

Misty breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the class again, "OUT OF THE POOL!" She commanded. This time everyone listened and quickly scrambled out.

The front door slammed open and Lt. Surge waltzed in surrounded by several of his top henchmen, Pokémon out and ready, "Good evening everyone!"

Surprised to find his entire first wave immobilized on the floor, Surge wasn't prepared when half the gym pointed at the lot of them and shouted, "HYDRO PUMP!"

The front windows of the gym were blown out by the torrential waters that flooded from within. Surge grabbed onto a van as he was being whisked by the current. Reaching into the cabin he grabbed the radio controller, "We're going to need backup in Cerulean…"

Misty and her top gym members took the battle outside where they had more open room to all battle at once. Spotting Surge getting up by one of the vans, Misty shouted "Leave now Rocket and no one gets hurt!"

Surge smiled, "Fiesty as always eh water sprite?" Surge's henchmen were once again at his side, "Go Raichu!" Surge commanded as his monstrous Raichu charged the gym followed by many other electrics.

"Don't let them through!" Misty ordered as the water Pokémon trainers made their stand.

Misty tossed a few more Pokémon into the fray, calling out Starmie, Kingdra, and Vaporeon to aid her Gastrodon. Misty shouted orders left and right trying to keep track of her battles as well as pepping her other gym members. The entire time she was trying to piece together how this could even be happening. Team Rocket was completely destroyed over three years ago, yet last week Sabrina shows up out of nowhere and reclaims the Saffron gym. Now Surge launches a sudden attack against Cerulean City… Just what was going on…?

"Vaporeon, use Acid Armor! Starmie, Psybeam the Raichu! Kingdra, use Twister on the Voltorbs to the left! Gastrodon, use Mudsport on all our water Pokémon! Looking good girls, keep it up!" Misty's eyes kept shifting across the battlefield keeping up with what everyone was doing.

"We're doing it Miss Misty!" One of her girls exclaimed as her Marshtomp Mudshot an Electabuzz.

Lt. Surge grinned to himself, "They probably think they're actually winning this little warm up session… Open the vans!"

Several of Surge's cronies ran down the line of parked vans opening the doors and released four Magnezones.

"Oh no…" Misty whispered to herself as she saw the huge electric Pokémon floating into the battle. Each one started one hit KOing the water Pokémon on the defensive line.

"Have your Marshtomp cover my Gastrodon!" Misty ordered, "Gastron, use Earthquake!"

"Double it up on the same Magnezone Marshtomp!" The two Pokémon shook the ground beneath Magnezone violently causing tons of earth to become airborne and engulf the huge electric Pokémon. The affected Magnezone was thrown back, hitting the ground hard and powered down.

"That's one down…" Misty acknowledged.

One of the approaching Magnezones aimed at the Marshtomp and fired Flash Cannon taking the poor Pokémon out.

"NOOO!" The trainer shouted as she ran to her injured partner.

Misty gritted her teeth… The Magnezone's were capable of using Steel attacks also, which meant even their ground Pokémon were vulnerable.

"OK Gastrodon, get ready!" Misty needed to make this next attack count.

"Not so quick that one eh girly? Magnezone, use Gyro Ball!" Misty's eyes widened realizing that attack was more effective on slower Pokémon. Her slug would take the moves full wrath for sure.

Misty was frozen trying to think of a way out of the situation, "Constrict!" She heard from somewhere in the vines came from down the road latching onto the Magnezone. Misty looked down the street and saw Erika with her Tangrowth and other Celedon Gym members at her side, "Power Whip!" Erika commanded and the Magnezone was knocked around very hard causing it to crash into the building and power down.

Erika and her people ran up to Misty, "You're early…" Misty pointed out holding back a slight sniff, "Thank you…"

"You guys are all over the news right now, Gym leaders Misty and Brock defending their cities from an unknown invading force." Erika informed her before commanding her Pokémon into battle.

"You mean Pewter City is under attack too?" Misty asked as she had her Vaporeon tackle Surge's Raichu.

"Yes, it looks like whoever is behind this attack strategized it very well attacking the two gyms simultaneously with your vulnerable types. If it had been just one or the other gym under attack you and Brock could have covered each other and thwarted the attack fine, but keeping you each occupied separately allows them to more fully exploit your type weaknesses."

Misty shook her head, "It's Team Rocket reformed and up to their old tricks, the one attacking us here is Lt. Surge!"

Erika looked over to the van recognizing Surge standing there barking orders as well, "That can't be good…"

With the plant Pokémon joining the battle, Surge and his men threw more steel types into the fray to compensate for their electric Pokémon's weakness to them.

"Their numbers are many…" Erika said gritting her teeth watching the battle continue at a stalemate even with their combined efforts.

"I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up…" Misty concurred. Turning her head to look at Erika Misty noticed something in the corner of her eye. Her concentration was very suddenly and completely lost to her.

Erika noticed right away that Misty had stopped shouting orders, "Misty?" Misty began walking away from battle, drawn somewhere else. "Misty!" Erika shouted still not getting a response from the girl. Turning to her senior members Erika ordered, "Take charge here!"

"Yes Ma'am," they acknowledged as Erika ran after Misty.

Misty wasn't seeing any of the battle anymore; none of it was mattering to her anyway. Not the gym, not its members. No, her world became focused on one thing alone. And that was a red cap atop a boy's head that she'd caught a glimpse of walking in this direction.

Misty ran at top speed through Cerulean city. Erika was doing her best to keep up but was losing ground. "Misty! Please wait!" she called to her friend.

Misty's mind was stuck on a single track focusing everything on following the shadow that had to be Red. Each time she reached an intersection and was unsure which way to go that same capped shadow would be standing a few blocks down in one direction and quickly disappear.

Misty kept chasing until she was lead to a dead end. Misty stared at the wall, tears staining her face; she hadn't even realized she'd been crying as she ran. She kicked the wall in front of her out of frustration. Panting to recover her breath, she heard a creaking noise at her side. Glancing quickly she saw stone steps heading down.

Caught up in continuing the chase, Misty slowly followed the stairs down realizing they lead to the aqueducts which ran clean water to every fountain in the city. She pushed the door open and stepped into the dark subterranean tunnels.

She followed the passage straight across for several minutes, the sounds of running water and her own breathing dulled her hearing to any other noises. A hand placed on her shoulder ripped her from her focused reverie.

"Misty!" Erika shouted as she shook her violently. Misty looked awful and Erika couldn't even imagine what was going on to spur the girl to just run off like that. Finally calm Erika asked, "What's wrong?"

"I… I saw him Erika… he's here, Red is down here… I… I followed him all the way to that dead end and I know he must have come down here…" Misty was sounding a little hysterical to Erika.

"Oh Misty…" Erika pulled the girl to her and embraced her hard, "Everything going on right now has taken its toll on all of us… This sudden attack out of nowhere, all that fighting… I'm doing my best to understand you Misty… But you have see by now that he's gone… We may never again…" Erika opened her eyes looking over Misty's shoulder and stopped mid sentence, "…see… Red!" Her eyes widened unbelieving at the shadow behind Misty that did indeed look like Red's outline.

Misty turned around noticing something had taken Erika's attention, "RED!" She shouted, turning abruptly, to run toward him. The shadowy boy turned and ran further down the corridors leading the two gym leaders deeper into the aqueducts.

Erika couldn't believe her eyes, could it really be the missing boy they were chasing. And if it was him then another question had to be answered… why was he running from them?

"Please Red stop! I want to see you!" Misty shouted through the passage ways.

After several turns through these dark passages it finally struck Erika that they were not keeping track of the tunnels leading them this way and that they'd be horribly lost and unable to return to the city above in a timely manner should the need arise. Erika was about to say something when they all entered a large room where three streams of water connected and they all stopped. The shadowed boy had reached the other side of the room and quickly turned around to face the two girls.

Misty slowly approached him, "Please Red… is that really you?"

The boy in the shadows nodded, "Yeah… It's me…" The two girls recognized the voice even if it had changed some over the years. The girls saw the boy remove his cap and toss it in their direction where it slid to a stop nearby in the dim light. Misty looked down at it, the same bright red cap with a Pokémon logo on it.

Still in the shadows the boy put on a different cap. Misty rapidly approached Red, but Erika noticed movement at the side of the room, "Misty wait! NO!"

Misty was suddenly constrained by vines as the room filled with light emitted from a small yellow Pokémon also in the room.

"That's a bad thing for you though since Red of Team Rocket doesn't lose battles!" As their eyes adjusted to the sudden flash of light they noticed Red standing in front of the room wearing a black hooded pullover shirt with short white sleeves and an "R" emblem over the heart above a solid yellow line going across the middle of the shirt. The rest of his clothes matched with black cargo jeans, brown boots, and a new black baseball cap with the same red "R" as the shirt.

Holding Misty in place was Red's Venusaur; but the horrifying sight was Pika who was lighting up the room. Pika's eyes slanted in an angry glare for a Pikachu, its fangs barred over its lip. It too wore a small black cap with the "R" emblem which even had holes cut into the sides for his ears. Compared to how both Misty and Erika remembered the happy little Pokémon, this Pika was obviously battle hardened, its tail had many sharp frays at the end.

Misty and Erika stared into Red's face in disbelief as he grinned mockingly at them. It was him, just as they remembered him… not just older though… no… he'd changed….

________________________________


	7. Cascade Badge

Cascade Badge

Red smirked to himself thinking about how well everything went to plan. Sabrina was seldom wrong about things like this though… It was several days prior when they were discussing how events would unfold.

"Aww come on… a full frontal assault should work fine against this stupid gym! All they got is water Pokémon!" Lt. Surge sighed indignantly as all of the generals were gathered to discuss strategies for the upcoming assault. "A pure electric attack would knock em cold before they know what hit em!"

"You're underestimating a gym leader's potential…" Koga waved a finger at his larger friend, "They may use primarily water Pokémon, but don't believe that leaves them defenseless against electric types. If that were the case any trainer with a Mareep would be able to storm in and claim a Cascade Badge. No they have defenses in place just for that kind of event; Pokémon and abilities capable of nullifying the inherent weakness of their Pokémon."

"Alright then, what's the plan?" Lt. Surge leaned back in his seat obviously not enthused.

"For the most part the trainers in the northern cities are novices. Besides the gym leaders, trainers in those cities tend to leave on Pokémon Journeys to other places once they reach certain proficiencies in their training ability. Each gym does have a few select upper leveled trainers, but even they are not of the type to concern us…" Koga explained.

"Could you PLEASE get to the point…" Surge rested his hands on his face as stared at the ceiling.

"We must draw the gym leaders away from their gyms," Sabrina put in.

"Huh?" Surge sat properly back in his seat and looked at the psychic girl.

"Without their herders, the Mareep are lost. Remove the gym leaders from commanding their troops and the gym will fall without a leader…"

"Ohhhh, I get it now!" Surge grinned stupidly.

Red shook his head, "OK, good boy, now how do we do this?"

"I have insight in this as well…" Sabrina motioned eerily.

"Of course you do…" Koga sighed.

"During my gym battle in Saffron City against the Gym Leader from Celedon, the leader of the Cerulean Gym accompanied her. I saw images in her mind. It would appear she is quite infatuated over Red."

Surge made a wolf whistle sound and jabbed Red lightly in the ribs.

Sabrina cleared her throat, "From a distance, Red, you could make your presence known to her. Stand where she alone will see you. She will leave to follow you anywhere."

Red nodded, "So make her follow me… but to where?"

Koga suddenly bolted forward in his seat, "If this plan indeed works, you could have her follow you to this point," He pulled out a map of Cerulean City, "This is the gym and it's not too far to this entrance to the Aqueducts under the city." Pulling out another map, he laid it out on top of the city map, "These are the tunnels which lead all across underground Cerulean. From the point of entrance on the other map you should be able to easily get to this room," Koga said pointing out a larger room in the schematic.

"If you make it that far you should have her disoriented enough to where she would not easily be able to retreat. The room here is large enough for a decent battle also. You'd be able to fight her and when you win there's another exit close by on the other side of the room where we could have a van ready to take her prisoner…"

Red nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

"While Red has the gym leader occupied, Surge should have no troubles picking off the remaining gym trainers." Surge chuckled to himself at Koga's statement.

"That takes care of the Cerulean front, but what about Pewter?" Red asked.

Koga smiled, "Leave Pewter's gym to me. I have a hostage situation in mind to draw out the Pewter Gym Leader."

"Good, we have it all covered then," Red pointed out waiting for anyone to disagree.

"Great then let's get the hell out of here, I need to go buy some supplies anyway." Surge got up in a rush to leave the room, "Maybe I can find some sucker to pay real money for this piece of junk I found too!"

'Almost just how we planned it…' Red smirked to himself as he faced off against the two gym leaders.

"Red! Please tell me what's going on? What's happened to you over the last three years?! Why are you doing this?!" Misty demanded loudly, tears flying from her face as she struggled in the vine's grasp.

Red laughed, "The last three years? Wow… I've probably… yeah… I spent most of that time preparing for this!" Red shouted and his Venusaur tossed the girl aside breaking off the vine and leaving her constricted in its tight wrap.

Red looked on to Erika, "I don't suppose you'd be willing to just give up and join your friend?" Red said sarcastically.

Erika dropped into a fighting stance with her hand on her Poké Balls ready to fight if need be. She was also lost in a state of confusion. This was the real Red, she was sure of it, but why he was doing this… She didn't understand…

"Good, I was hoping you wouldn't!" Red reached for his belt and drew another Poké Ball and held it tightly in his hand waiting for Erika to make a move.

"Red… Please… we're your friends… What's wrong? Why are you fighting us? Why are you wearing the clothes of Team Rocket? Why were you gone for so long? What's happened to you?"

"Questions, questions, questions, geez, what's up with you people?" Red scratched his head through his cap, "Let me take a stab at this… First… nothing. Second… because. Third… because. Fourth… 'cause again. And fifth…" Red stopped for a moment, quiet. "You know… I guess I just opened my eyes and saw the truth the rest of you have ignored for years, how's that?"

Erika shook her head, that smugness… indifference… and uncaring… "You can't be Red!"

Red grinned darkly again, "Oh no?"

"I'll get to the bottom of this!" Erika finally threw her Poké Ball releasing a Vileplume. "Paralyze Powder, now!"

"Pluuume!" The large plant acknowledged and launched its spores into the air.

"Oh come on, coming from the plant gym leader… that's predictable!" Red tossed a Poké Ball and shouted, "Flamethrower!" The Pokémon attacked the moment it materialized from the ball, igniting all the spores in midair.

Erika shielded her face from the fire. Looking up she saw a Houndoom placed in front of her Vileplume. She gasped realizing she would be at type disadvantage with all her Pokémon now.

Red smirked at her change of expression, "Firefang that Vileplume!" The Houndoom howled a deathly frightening sound and lunged at the Vileplume, biting down hard into the plant, flames erupting from its fangs. The Vileplume squealed in agony, but Erika didn't flinch.

Red noticed Erika's expression had gone from panicked to a calm and composed battle face, "I see, you brought a Houndoom knowing if you were to confront me that I would use either plant or psychic type Pokémon."

Red didn't let his stance falter; he'd been warned the Celedon Gym leader had some mild psychic ability.

"It's unfortunate for you then that your dark Pokémon will not have the chance to confront my psychic ones…"

Red looked confused for a brief moment at Erika's cryptic words. Looking back to the battle at hand he noticed Vileplume's sappy blood pouring out of the bite wounds into his Houndoom's mouth. Taking a moment to gauge the Vileplume's capabilities Red realized, "Vileplume's poisoned itself!"

"And that poison is being fed directly to your attacking Houndoom. It won't be long before it starts feeling the strong effects of a Vileplume's poison."

"Flamethrower!" Red shouted.

Houndoom jumped off the Vileplume and got into a position to launch the flamethrower attack.

"Drainpunch it Vileplume!" Erika commanded.

Red's eyes widened as he saw the portly plant fling itself at his Houndoom, stubby arm outstretched for a punch. He knew Houndoom was weak against fighting moves, but he had already given his Pokémon a command that hadn't been carried through yet.

The punch impacted the black dog, sending it rolling down the brick floor. The energy transfer took place during the punch and immediately healed some of Vileplume's wounds. Houndoom jumped up on its feet but immediately slouched in its posture, the effects of poison now taking their toll also.

Red watched the Pokémon struggling to return to battle. Erika prepared herself for Red to give some kind of command to his Pokémon. Instead the boy started laughing hysterically. "Ohh this is great! I was so worried you guys were going to be pushovers! This is actually going to be fun!" Red jumped into a serious stance facing Erika.

Erika wasn't sure what to make of Red… This was just so… awful…

"Oh what to do against such a Vileplume… a Vileplume that has poisoned my Houndoom?" Red chuckled in a low tone, "Houndoom, use Façade!"

Erika gasped realizing that move was devastating from a Pokémon with status ailments. The Houndoom stood properly on its feet, and in a rapid leap it jumped through the Vileplume. The plant took full effect of the blow and fell over.

"Fine then… " Erika recalled her Vileplume and threw in another Poké Ball releasing Natu. The tiny bird fluttered about, "Miracle Eye!" Erika shouted rendering Houndoom's invulnerability to psychic moves useless.

"Uhoh…" Red mumbled still grinning.

"The Houndoom is weak Natu! Keep it busy!" The green bird chirped and charged into battle. Erika used the opportunity to dash over to Misty's side.

"Are you alright Misty?" Erika looked down at her friend noticing her eyes wide and teary staring at the lost boy on the other side of the room. "I know Misty… I KNOW! But please… you have to pull yourself together! I need your help if we're going to help him… Something's happened to him and I need to find out what so we can reverse it." Erika pulled on the vines holding Misty in place.

Opening another Poké Ball, Erika called out a Roserade, "Help me Cut these vines Roserade!"

Nodding to its trainer, the Roserade used Cut on the vines with amazing precision, cutting a line across them setting Misty free.

Pulling Misty to her feet, the girl already looked defeated, "Why is he doing this?"

Erika took hold of her friend again, "Misty, I think he's been hypnotized by Sabrina. If I'm right then I should be able to use my abilities to undo the hypnosis effect on him. I just need to get close enough to him to touch him. If I can just place a hand on his head I should be able to channel enough energy into him to free his mind from the control he's been placed in. Then things can return to normal!" Erika smiled at Misty hoping to encourage the girl.

Misty nodded, a look of determination crossed her face, "Alright, let's do it!"

Erika smiled and turned back to the battle, "Natu use Night Shade!" The colors of the room seemed to invert as the Natu used the Ghost attack against the Houndoom.

The Dark hell hound howled a spine chilling shrill and collapsed to the ground. Red recalled it back to the Poké Ball, "It's about time you got back!" he grinned.

Misty pulled out one of her remaining Poké Balls to join in the fray alongside Erika's Natu and Roserade, "Go Gorebyss!" Leaning over to Erika Misty whispered, "I only have one other Pokémon with me besides Gorebyss…"

Erika nodded, "We'll just have to make this count then…"

Red shook his head, "Ganging up on me huh… finally a fair fight!" Red tossed in his next Poké Ball materializing a Tyranitar.

Erika looked puzzled at the large Pokémon, "Why would he use a slow Pokémon that's weak against grass and water types against us?"

A mischievous look crossed Red's face, "Tyranitar, Taunt them!" On command the Tyranitar motioned to the other Pokémon in various insulting manners.

The three Pokémon standing against Red's Tyranitar began to look angered; though the girls didn't seem understand what was going on, "Gorebyss, use Aqua Tail!"

The Gorebyss complied with pleasure, slapping the Tyranitar in the face with a splash of its tail.

"Roserade use Magical Leaf, Natu use Miracle Eye!" Erika shouted.

Roserade immediately used Magical Leaf, hitting Tyrantar hard, but Natu used Swift instead of Magical Eye causing some damage.

Erika stared blankly at her Natu, it had never disobeyed an order from her. Taking a moment to pear into its psychic mind she began to understand the effects of Tyranitar's taunting.

"That taunt has made it so our Pokémon are too angered to use any moves that don't inflict direct damage to it…" Erika explained to Misty.

Red laughed, "Tyranitar, help that little Natu out, use Swagger!" The Tyranitar made some strange swaying motions, and Erika's Natu seemed to grow in power.

This caught Erika and Misty even more by surprise. They tried to decipher why Red would be helping them until they saw the confused look on Natu's face… That same one that reminded Misty of a Psyduck.

"It was intended to confuse Natu…" Erika confirmed to Misty, "That doesn't mean it will work, Natu use Swift again! Roserade, follow up with Energy Ball!"

Misty pointed to the Tyranitar, "Gorebyss, back them up with Water Pulse!"

The three Pokémon followed their orders explicitly causing much more damage to Red's Tyranitar. The giant Pokémon was starting to look weakened.

"Hang in there Tyranitar, use Endure!" The Rocky Pokémon growled loudly as it prepared itself to take more damage.

"Don't let up on it!" Misty shouted, "Gorebyss, get through Tyranitar's defense! Use Hydro Pump!" The pink fish blasted Tyranitar with its most powerful water attack.

"Get Tyranitar off its feet Roserade! Trip it with Grass Knot! Natu make sure it stays down with Shadow Ball!"

Tyranitar took a critical hit from Hydro Pump first taking massive damage. The Grass Knot and Shadow Ball that followed brought it to its knees. If it hadn't been under the effects of Endure which it used this turn it surely would have been knocked out.

"Alright, stand steady, we've got it now…" Erika assured Misty.

"You think so?" The cocky grin hadn't left Red's face this entire time, "Let's find out… Tyranitar… FLAIL!"

Both Erika and Misty stared in shock at the unexpected attack. Flail was normally only known by weak Pokémon… But using Flail… the more damage a Pokémon has taken… the more damage it deals.

Before they could react, Tyranitar jumped at their Pokémon, flailing its limbs wildly, impacting all three of its opponents and knocking them out immediately from the force.

Erika gritted her teeth… she couldn't believe they played right into that one… Being that it was Red they were up against she'd allowed herself to hope that some part of him in there would restrain from going all out against them…

"What do you have left?" Erika asked Misty.

"Just my Corsola…" Misty spoke sounding panicked.

"We'll be alright, just remember the plan!" Erika tried to sound as reassuring as she could.

"Right!" Misty threw her Poké Ball calling out the pink water rock. Corsola materialized and Misty shouted, "Bubble Beam!" Corsola used the attack immediately KOing the weakened Tyranitar.

Erika tossed two more Poké Balls into the fray to replace her fallen ones, "Go Bellosom and Kirlia!"

"You still want more huh?" Red pulled out another Poké Ball, "This is getting fun now! Go Spinda!" Throwing the Poké Ball, a small teetering bear looking Pokémon emerged, stepping around randomly looking happily dizzy.

Erika leaned closer to Misty to whisper, "He's letting his guard down, take control of my Pokémon while I try to get on his blind side…"

"Spinda, do a Teeter Dance!" The Pokémon moved fluidly with absolute randomness. Its opponent Pokémon couldn't help but stare at its movements trying to gauge where it was going only to be lead astray again and again.

Misty shook herself trying to build up her composure, "Corsola, fire a Spike Cannon!"

"Hit it with a Sucker Punch Spinda!"

As Corsola prepared to launch its spike, the small bear danced over it following a strange path and punched the Corsola right in the face, confusing the Pokémon enough to make it forget the attack it was supposed to use.

Misty tried to think about the moves she'd seen Erika use with her Pokémon before and which would be best against this thing… "Magical Leaf can't miss! Go Bellosom!"

Red's expression turned to worry for a moment as the Bellosom shot the leaf at his frolicking Pokémon. The Leaf managed to knock it off its feet.

"While it's immobilized, Kirlia hit it with Psychic, Corsola use Rock Blast!" The two started beating on the downed bear.

Red gritted his teeth, "Don't let them pick on you Spinda! Keep on Teeter Dancing and hit them with Dizzy Punches!"

The Spinda flipped itself back onto its feet and in several wild steps started punching its enemies with spinning fists.

"Don't give up guys! Bellosom use Giga Drain!" Misty remembered the attack that was Erika's signature move. The Bellosom pulled off the attack and healed itself a considerable amount.

Red grinned, "Spinda still has plenty of spunk left, so don't go thinking…"

"PIKA!" The Pikachu lighting up the room started screaming causing Red to turn and see Erika standing right beside him. Her hands quickly outstretched and grabbed onto his temple.

"Let's see what exactly they've done to you Red…" Erika concentrated peering into Red's mind to undo any hypnosis spell he might be under. Red became paralyzed as Erika created a psychic connection between the two of them.

Flashes of the last three years came crashing through their mental link. Erika became subject to seeing the incredible training Red endured in countries across the world. The mountains climbed, caves explores, incredible beasts slain. He was no mere member of Team Rocket… but a general. There was a man shrouded by shadow who Red considered his… lover… Going back far enough Erika bore witness to the memories of the months of torture and rape that Red had endured at the beginning of this madness.

Erika let go of Red in shock, the two of them falling back from each other. Erika stared at Red in disbelief.

Red gritted his teeth in anger, having a vague idea of what the girl just did to him. "…I take it easy on you two… Have a fun time just playing around… And this is what you do with that huh?" Red clenched his fist tight, "FINE!" Jumping to his feet Red looked over to his Pikachu, "Pika! DISCHARGE!"

"Pika!" The rodent jumped into the battle emitting an incredible amount of electrical power capturing everything that wasn't its ally in the mighty wave. Both Misty and Erika screamed as the electrical current coursed through their bodies.

Bellosom who was less susceptible to the electrical attack began to push off the effects and launch a counter strike. Red saw the Pokémon recovering and preempted the attack, "Pika, Megavolt the Bellosom!"

"Chu!" The Pikachu acknowledged the command and charged up a massive attack. Electric sparks filled the room as Pikachu prepared to release an attack of unheard of voltage. "CHUU!" The room filled with blinding light as the attack was unleashed catching the Bellosom in its full brunt.

The Bellosom's scream was barely heard over the thunderous crackling of the attack. Erika was able to open her eyes enough to see her Bellosom burst into flames from the intensity of the bolt of lightning. In a final massive wave of energy the attack concluded, leaving nothing but charred ashes where the plant Pokémon once was.

Both Gym Leaders stared in disbelief. The Pikachu stood looking unfazed from releasing such an attack, its body glowed and sparked with energy.

"Saur! Vine Wrap them both!" The Venusaur quickly lashed out with its vines wrapping the girls up before they could recover enough from the attack to move.

Red looked over what he had done and grit his teeth while spinning around to kick the wall hard. He was furious… He couldn't remember a time he felt so angry. No one had ever dared invade his mind like that before. Even Sabrina knew better… The things she could have found out… He didn't even know what memories of his she actually saw… But the memories which had resurfaced through the ordeal only fueled his rage further.

Red recalled his Spinda to its Poké Ball and placed it back on his belt. He then none too gently rolled Erika over to Misty and reached in through the vines to pull out their Poké Balls. He recalled the fallen Pokémon back into the balls and tossed the belts to the corner of the room. Both girls now could only watch him through tear stained eyes.

Red knelt down in front of Erika and lifted her head up by her hair, "I should kill you, you know…" Erika made no response and he let go.

"It should be time for pickup now anyway though…" Red plopped down against the wall in the corner of the room by his Venusaur; his Pikachu strode over to stand by its master as well.

The Poké Gear on Red's wrist started beeping. Red pressed a button to activate it, "About time, the wagon ready to go?"

"That's a negative we've been given the order to retreat!"

Red's eyes widened as he stared at his Poké Gear, "Retreat?! What the hell are you talking about Surge?! I've got two gym leaders down her beat!"

"Yeah well we've got an unexpected visitor up here, and we're being picked apart!" Surge yelled sounding angry and frustrated.

"What do you mean an unexpected visitor?"

On the surface, Surge called retreat orders to his men as they gathered up their Pokémon and ran for the vans. As the Team Rocket soldiers ran, a line fire strafed at them from the sky.

While shielding his face, Surge held his Poké Gear up to his mouth and grunted out, "It's the champ!"

_____________________________


	8. Eclipse

Eclipse

Darkness… Darkness with nothing but the sound of water entered the senses of the two girls who were still tied and left in this underground labyrinth.

It had been over an hour since Red had received the retreat order and he gathered his Pokémon and ran, leaving the two girls stranded in this place. Neither had spoken a word since their defeat at the boy's hands.

Finally Misty had enough of waiting in the silence, "Erika… please tell me… what happened? I… I thought you said…" The girl sniffed hard, "I thought you said you'd be able to knock Red out of the hypnosis he was under…"

It was Erika's turn to release a few sobs, "Oh Misty…" Erika couldn't quite find her voice, "It's horrible… it's so horrible… it's…" She couldn't speak straight as just thinking about it was making her emotional.

Misty was trying to be patient with her friend, "Please tell me…"

Erika nodded to herself attempting to regain some composure, "He… he… Red… he's gone Misty… Forever… There's no way to get him back…"

Misty's eyes clouded over as she struggled to not give in yet, "Why?"

"Three years ago… Team Rocket… they captured him…" Misty had always thought something like that might have happened but didn't say anything waiting for Erika to continue. "Misty… they… t… t… tortured him… He was strapped to a machine… for days… was left being electrocuted by Magneton…" Misty's heart broke a little bit more… imagining the pain Red must have endured…

Erika weighted whether she should tell Misty the next part or not, "…Misty… then…. then they…" Erika swallowed hard, "He was raped Misty…"

Misty's stomach suddenly knotted and she thought for sure she was going to throw up. "noooo…" Misty cried weakly.

"I… I couldn't see who the man was that did it… but… the trauma destroyed the person Red used to be… it's like every person truly is made of glass… We do everything we can to protect our glass selves… we put up defenses and barriers… but if something gets through and shatters the glass… it's impossible to put it back together. And Red… he was shattered…"

Misty did her best to roll over to face Erika and leaned her head against the girl. The two of them cried to each other for a while longer.

"But why… after all that… why would he join the ones who did that to him?" Misty couldn't understand that part.

Erika thought of how best to put it, "…Where that glass self once was within Red, something new has taken its place… and… as wrong and impossible as it may seem… that new being has fallen in love with the one that destroyed the original…"

"You mean… he's with the one who raped him?! In… a relationship?!" Misty asked in shock.

Erika nodded in the dark, "Yes… and that's why Red is now a general in Team Rocket…"

It was so much to take in. Misty just couldn't believe it… "He… He left us to die down here… didn't he?"

Erika sighed, "It is possible those were his intentions…"

The two huddled together as close as they could, not speaking anymore. Time passed and they fell asleep on the stone floor.

Misty started to dream. In her dreams she saw what could have been. She saw Red wearing his bright colored clothes and smiled as they played in the grassy fields outside of the city.

The two of them playfully battled their Pokémon, knowing each other's tactics very well by now. From there they lied in the grass and just talked for a while staring up at the slightly cloudy blue sky. The two poked at each other, and ended up wrestling enough to start rolling down the hill's soft grass. They landed laughing, Red on top. The two stopped, and in a mystifying moment of seduction, looked into each other's eyes becoming awestruck in the beauty they saw in each other. Red closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against Misty's in a tentative kiss which Misty accepted and deepened. Wrapping their arms around each other, the kiss became more passionate as the two expressed how they truly loved each other.

Red quickly turned away and rolled off though. Misty reached out to Red but her hand was gently pushed away. Red stood and walked away from her giving her a sad look as he left. Misty was left not understanding what happened. She felt as though she was going to cry. A few tears escaped her eyes when a hand reached around her face from behind and wiped them.

Misty turned around and was pulled into Erika's comforting embrace. Misty was confused but felt at ease here. Erika pulled Misty's face to her and shared in the same kiss she'd had with Red only moments before. A heated, passionate... yet sad kiss.

Misty's senses started to return to her as she found herself waking from her dream. She was still tied and lying next to Erika in this underground aqueduct. She groaned and struggled against the binds a little. She struggled harder feeling as if a voice was calling to her and she had to try fiercely to get free.

As the fogs of sleep lifted from her mind she realized she really could hear faint voices calling her name and Erika's. Someone was down here looking for them!

"Erika, Erika wake up!" Misty nudged her friend to wake her from her sleep.

"What?" Erika's eyes opened weakly.

"Someone's looking for us, help me call them, OVER HERE!" Misty started yelling.

"Misty, Erika, where are you?!"

"HELP!!" Misty and Erika started yelling together. The voices came closer

"We're coming! Hold on!"

"Oh thank god!" Misty and Erika laughed to each other. Misty realized she was laughing… actually happy to be getting out of this place. Remembering her dream she looked at Erika and smiled. She wasn't ready to give up on Red… But having Erika by her side made life so much more bearable.

Footsteps were coming closer to the room, "Over here!" Misty shouted again.

Several people ran into the room with flashlights, "Oh my gosh, Misty! Erika! Are you two alright?!"

Misty recognized Brock's voice, "Yes, just please get us out of these things…"

Eyes adjusting to the light from the flashlights, Misty saw that Brock was here with Blue and Green, along with several of their gym members.

Brock quickly cut the vines off of the girls and released them, "What happened here?" he asked.

Misty immediately jumped up and hugged Brock, thankful to be released. "It was terrible!"

Blue kneeled down and inspected the vines that were holding the two immobilized. It only took a moment of looking at the vines under the light before he said, "These are Venusaur vines…"

"What happened to the gym?" Misty asked quickly trying to avoid the confrontation she knew was coming.

"The gym is fine Misty!" One of her senior gym members spoke up, "Things weren't looking good we were being overrun pretty badly. But then Blue showed up and reorganized everyone. He took charge of the battle and beat back a lot of Team Rocket's men all on his own!"

Misty nodded and smiled at Blue, "I owe you a lot for that… Thank you Blue."

Blue looked up at the girl with a scowl on his face, "And what was going on down here that was so important to draw you away from the battle in front of your gym?"

Misty looked away for a moment, knowing everyone was about to take this pretty bad.

"We saw Red…" Erika answered for her.

Everyone became deathly silent and stared at Erika making sure she wasn't making some bad joke.

Misty nodded, "It's true… I saw Red and followed him down here…"

"And he battled you?" Blue asked already knowing the answer from seeing the thick Venusaur vine.

The two gym leaders nodded.

"Where did he go?" Blue asked sounding almost threatening.

"He left down that tunnel, but it was hours ago…" Misty explained.

Green looked from face to face, "This doesn't make any sense, why would Red battle you?"

"It wasn't just a battle…" Erika got up and walked across the room, kneeling by the ashes that still remained there.

"Oh no…" Misty covered her mouth remembering the attack that killed Erika's Bellosom.

"What?" Green asked kneeling by Erika.

"These ashes are all that remains of Bellosom… She was killed by Red's Pikachu…" Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.

Brock ran over to Erika's side to examine the ashes, "But Erika… plants are naturally grounded… electricity should have little effect on them… how could a Pikachu have done this?"

Erika nodded, "Normally so… however the sheer intensity of the heat from Pikachu's attack caused Bellosom to combust and leave nothing but this…" Erika's hand reached into the ashes and clenched some in her fist, "…So as I said… this wasn't a battle… it was a trap…"

Green shook her head trying to comprehend, "What do you mean?"

"Red lured us here specifically. If it hadn't been for Blue showing up to turn the tides at the gym then Red would have taken both Misty and myself captive for Team Rocket…"

Green gripped Erika's shoulders tightly, "No! There's no way Red would do such a thing! This has to be some kind of trick… an imposter or… or… Maybe it was him and he's under some kind of mind control! Isn't that possible?!"

"This is going to be hard to understand…" Erika started, "but believe me when I say he's a part of them now…" Erika stood clenching her Bellosom's ashes in her hands, a few tears shone off her shadowed face. "I looked into his mind and saw glimpses of the last three years… Red has been put through horrors I can't even describe. They've changed him. Changed him from the gentle loving boy we all once knew… into an extremely dangerous enemy…"

Blue turned away in thought considering everything the girls were telling them, "If this is all true…" He finally spoke, "then all of you are in grave danger…"

Misty cocked her head in confusion, her eyes not moving from the back of Blue's head, "All of us? You're making it sound like you're excluding yourself from our group? Don't you think you should be working with us to solve this…? Together there might be something we can all do to help Red!"

Blue crossed his arms. With his back to the others he remained silently pensive for a few more moments, "There may not be anything anyone can do…"

"What do you mean?" Green asked.

Blue walked over to Erika and placed his hands over hers, "If Red truly did this to Bellosom…" Blue gritted his teeth, "I just don't know…"

The others understood. Red never would have intentionally hurt any Pokémon before… It would have devastated him knowing he actually killed one.

Peering into the darkness Misty made out the slightest hint of color. Reaching for it she picked up Red's cap. Bringing it back into the light everyone saw it truly was the same hat Red had worn all those years ago.

"So what do we do…?" Green looked saddened down at the cap.

Blue grunted and turned angrily heading toward an exit.

"Blue, where are you going?" Green called to him.

Stopping for a moment he turned his head just enough to see the group of them over his shoulder, "The way I see it we have one option… And that's find Team Rocket…" Blue fist clenched so tight he began to noticeable shake even in this dark light, "AND MAKE THEM PAY FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE!" He violently threw a Poké Ball releasing Charizard who formed with a ferociously angry howl to match its master's. Blue jumped on its back and flew through the tunnels before anyone could try and react. The glow from Charizard's tail phased out of sight down the hallway.

Brock shook his head taking everything in also, "Wow… what do you think he's going to do?"

Erika sighed sadly, "There's really nothing he can do… Team Rocket's base is very well hidden. The only lead we have is that the attack originated from Saffron City which makes Sabrina, who is the Gym Leader there once again, look very suspicious… But she wasn't among the attackers… nor did I see anything in Red's mind to prove her continued affiliation with Team Rocket… And we can't very well wage war on Saffron to demand someone give us information on Team Rocket either…"

"I don't know what he's going to do…" All eyes turned to Green in response to her trembling voice… "I… I've never seen that kind of emotion from Blue before… He's so angry…" She blinked and looked at the others trying to make them understand, "He's never angry! He's never anything besides calm and sometimes pensive."

Brock nodded, "It's understandable though… They were almost brothers you know? Rivals from the same town, in constant competition with each other. They may have had many rough run ins with each other… but deep down they share a bond like family… Believe me… I felt the same way just hours ago when Koga threatened my little brother… I don't know what I would have done had Koga actually… hurt him…"

Erika solemnly started walking back out of the room also, "It does us no good to remain here… Let's get back to the gym and we can assess the situation better from there."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Brock led the way back.

______________________________________


	9. Trine

Trine

"I don't believe this… I had them!" Red shouted at the table surrounded by the other generals, "Not just one gym leader but two of them! Erika the plant gym leader was with her and I still beat them both down with ease just to find out you couldn't do your part of taking down a novice gym with half of Team Rocket's army?!"

"HEY PUNK!" Lt. Surge shouted back, "The gym was toast! Even with the plant gym's people there, my guys had them whooped! It's not my fault that intelligence didn't anticipate that level of backup arriving for them!"

"Enough you two!" Sabrina put a hand to her head feeling a migraine coming on. "Yes it was a great oversight on our part not to expect the pallet trainers to get involved in the battle. Green managed to trick her way past Koga's troops and free Brock's little brother, allowing the two of them to attack Koga's unit in full force, and Blue used almost pure strength to pry through Surge and his men. This doesn't change our goals; we now only have extra steps."

"Indeed," The four looked to the door as Giovanni entered and took a seat at the head of the table. "It would seem we are in need of more prep work than I originally anticipated."

"I'm sorry sir…" Sabrina bowed her head to the man.

Giovanni chuckled, "Losing our element of surprise is not my greatest concern. However this changes things around with my plans…" the man grabbed a remote and turned on a large screen in the room. "During the last few days Sabrina and I have deciphered what exactly it is the Elite Four are up to. This has peaked my immediate interest. As it would appear the majority of our forces are in need of serious training I want you all to set up your respective forces with a strict training regiment to be followed for the next few weeks. Make sure your colonels understand how to enforce the training procedures in your absence as you all are accompanying me on a business trip to the Elite Four's island."

Red smiled widely, his anger apparently forgotten, and threw his arms up in the air, "Alright! We're going on a trip!"

"The Elite Four have been tampering with a particular device originally created by our own R and D efforts. I believe you are all familiar with this device, even you Red," clicking a button on the remote, a round yellow slotted plate appeared on the screen. "This was the Badge Amplifier we used three years ago to fuse the powers of the three legendary birds into one weapon. It was powered by seven gym badges, the four we already had in our possession from the three of you and our deserter Blaine, and the other three Red had won from the other Gym leaders."

Red nodded remembering his badges being stolen by Green who thought she could use the device herself… 'Silly girl,' he chuckled to himself.

"After that same battle, the Silph Building collapsed and we had assumed the device destroyed by the falling debris. It would appear as though the Elite Four had in actuality recovered the device mostly unharmed during the cleanup of the rubble, along with the seven gym badges."

"So basically…" Lt. Surge surmised, "You want us to storm the Elite Four's island and get this gadget back before they can use it against us."

Giovanni quirked a smile, "Something like that." He reached into his briefcase and started passing folders across the table, "I'm passing you information on your specified targets. I want you to be prepared to do combat with one of the Elite Four each." Sabrina received a file with Agatha's picture on it; Surge got the one for Lorelei, and Koga the one for Bruno. Giovanni kept the one for Lance in his hands. Red looked at the file expectantly. "I actually have a special assignment for you Red if you don't mind… I'll take care of Lance myself…"

Red nodded, "OK… works for me…"

The other three looked confused at Giovanni, not expecting him to take an active role in battling the Elite Four.

"Hey boss?" Surge spoke up again.

"Yes?"

"It's just your plan is to have just us four… err… five, storm into the Elite Four's domain and win? I'm no wuss or nothing, but those Elites have got an army of Pokémon you know?" Surge crossed his arms trying to make sense of the plan, "It just doesn't seem like winning odds."

Sabrina chuckled, "We have already anticipated the battle. You see the Elite Four do not control their vast Pokémon army directly. They give more general commands for them to follow through with and then directly control only a select few of their highly trained Pokémon actually kept at their side. This was the reason we decided before that a direct assault would not be wise as it would be countered with equal strength. However, first sneaking onto the island, and challenging the Elite Four face to face will keep them from issuing general commands to their larger legions, forcing them to concentrate on single battles."

"Right…" Surge nodded blankly.

"She means that if we go in a small group we won't provoke their army to attack in full force!" Koga hoped that clarified it the military man.

Surge shrugged, "If you say so…" Everyone sighed not caring to explain any further.

Giovanni clasped his hands together looking over his generals, "We leave in three days, you have that long to prepare your battle strategies and get your people training, understood?"

Everyone nodded, "Yes sir."

"Good, then you're all dismissed, except for Red. We need to discuss your task in our efforts against the Elites." Surge and Koga immediately left the room. Sabrina started to leave but looked back at Giovanni as if she wanted to say something but decided against it and left as well.

"So what's the plan?"

Giovanni shook his head, "That can wait… I wanted to make sure you're alright first."

Red leaned back in his chair, "Yeah I'm fine, I was just upset that I took on more than my part of the plan and they couldn't handle having one extra trainer thrown at them…" Red rested his hands behind his head.

"That's not what I mean…" Giovanni took a seat in the chair closest to Red's.

"What then…?" Red sat up looking confused at Giovanni.

Giovanni rested a hand on Red's knee as he spoke softly, "Surge messes things up all the time and I've never seen you get that upset… Something else angered you. Yesterday was the first time you'd seen those two girls in several years, how did it make you feel?"

Red sighed, "I… I didn't feel anything for them… I remembered the times I'd spent with them, the things we'd done… but when I saw them… I just felt… nothing… It was like battling a total stranger, someone I could have cared less either way for…"

Gionvanni nodded, "What got you so emotional then?"

Red closed his eyes, "I… I got careless…"

"Oh?" Giovanni's interest perked at Red's cocky attitude leaving him.

"I was beating their Pokémon so easily… They didn't stand a chance against my basic strategies," Red chuckled to himself, "They played right into my one move, you know the one with my flailing Tyranitar? It was great!" Giovanni laughed with Red knowing exactly which one he was speaking of.

"So I guess I let my guard down not thinking they were any threat to me. The psychic one got around my perception while I was giving orders to Spinda and got her hands on my head…" Red looked down at the floor.

Giovanni nodded understanding, "What did she see?"

Red shook his head, "I don't know… it could have been nothing… it could have been everything… She kept jabbing at my head as if she were looking for something though… Yeah I could feel it, she wanted to find something… and then she let go when it wasn't there…"

Giovanni smirked to himself realizing they were looking to undo the effects of hypnosis. How disappointed they must have been to realize this was no spell Red was under…

"Just the fact that she was poking around in my head so viscously though… I got angry…" Red pulled a Poké Ball off his belt, "I had Pika flood the room with Discharge, attacking even the two gym leader girls…" Red was quiet for a moment staring at the Poké Ball, "There was a plant Pokémon on the field that had a resistance to lightning. I wasn't thinking straight and had Pika concentrate a Mega Volt on the Pokémon. Even if it was resistant to electric attacks, a Thunderbolt from Pika would have been more than enough to knock it out. I… I…" Red took a deep breath and let it out calmly still staring at the ball, "I made Pika kill that Bellosom…"

Giovanni nodded realizing now that Red's anger, though originally spurred by the mental probe, became focused toward himself. His strong empathy for Pokémon probably wouldn't allow him to forgive himself very easily for taking a Pokémon's life. Giovanni pulled the boy from his seat and had him straddle his lap. Holding the boy tight to him he whispered in his ear, "It's alright Red… This is a war… Wars have casualties… it's not your fault"

A sigh escaped Red's breath as he leaned his head on the man's shoulder. Giovanni let him stay like that for a while, "Remember we're out for the greater good… the casualties incurred in these battles won't even matter when we're done, so cheer up." Giovanni placed his hand on Red's chin bringing the boy's face to face his own. Lowering his lips onto the boy he captured him in a sensitive kiss.

Only a second into the kiss, the door slid open, "Sir I…" Sabrina was caught off guard finding the two locked in a passionate moment.

Red heard Sabrina walk in and tried to pull away from Giovanni to save face, however the man held him in place with a strong hand behind his head. Letting the kiss end on its own, Giovanni finally turned to Sabrina, "Yes?"

Sabrina blushed realizing she'd been staring, "Excuse me… sir… we received a report from R and D that construction of the A-R57 Skyship is behind schedule by possibly another two to three months…" Sabrina choked out still not taking her eyes off of Red sitting on Giovanni's lap.

"This is unfortunate… Have development division six postpone their Omnidrone project to aid division two with construction," Giovanni stated calmly as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Sabrina didn't seem to be moving though, "Anything else?" he asked calmly.

"No sir!" Sabrina turned and left the room, letting the door slide shut behind her.

Red listened as her strong clacking steps echoed down the hall, "Well that wasn't a good thing…" Red shook his head.

Giovanni nodded, "Delaying our plans for months more than where they already are would not leave us with favorable conditions…"

Red looked at Giovanni confused a moment thinking the man didn't understand what he meant. When a grin crossed Giovanni's face he knew he was just being teased, "I didn't think you wanted them to know about us?"

Giovanni shook his head, "It was bound to come out sooner or later, I just didn't want to rub it in their faces."

"Oh…" Red thought about it for a moment, but was shaken from it as Giovanni began to nuzzle his neck making him laugh as the man's tongue raked against the sensitive skin.

Sabrina marched through the base storming right past her other two counterparts, "Whoa chicka, what's up?" Surge gestured with his arms out at Sabrina's hurriedness.

Sabrina turned to look at the man, an angry blush still flushed across her face. She thought for a moment to find the words and finally settled on, "Nothing!" not even saying anything about the "chicka" remark she continued her march down the base.

"Whoa… I wonder what's gotten into her all of a sudden…" Surge went back to making his coffee.

Koga chuckled to himself, "She probably just barely found out what happens behind that door."

Surge looked oddly at Koga, "Behind what door?"

Koga sighed, "Never mind…" Taking his own coffee Koga left to make preparations for his Ninja's training schedule.

"Hey why am I the one being left out?!" Surge yelled at no one particular.

Sabrina had made it across the building to her quarters. She slammed the door hard after she entered causing the passer bys in the hall to stop and stare out of surprise. For one of the few times in her life Sabrina found herself unable to think straight. She leaned against the wall rubbing her temples being unable to pinpoint how exactly she was feeling.

Sabrina wasn't sure why she had been so shocked… She had been picking up on subtle clues of something going on between them for the last three years… so it should have been expected by now… She shouldn't be concerned…

Up until that point though… Sabrina realized she'd managed to ignore those signs. She had brushed off the thoughts as being paranoia and that nothing could possibly be happening there like that… Why would she have struggled so hard to think that way for so long though?

Sabrina walked slowly into her bedroom. Still with a mostly blank expression on her face, she looked around the very plainly decorated room. She had nothing of interest in her bedroom save one framed photo on her bedside. It was a photo from years ago when she had first become a general for Team Rocket. In the photo, Giovanni had his arm around her shoulder and was smiling at the camera. A half smile had crossed her lips as well when the picture was taken.

After staring at the photo for a few moments Sabrina fell to her knees by her bedside. She pulled the picture to her chest and began to actually cry into her bed. She had never admitted this to herself before this moment… but she knew beyond a doubt… that she was in love with Giovanni…

"It's not fair!" She cried pressing her face into her pillow. Sabrina fought a hard battle within her own mind. Her rationale told her there was obviously nothing that could be done and that never would her love be returned so there was no reason to worry about it. Her emotions however demanded retribution for their rage… for their long stent of loyalty and this sudden feeling of betrayal… Her rational countered once again with the fact that Giovanni never promised her anything beyond business partnership, and that anything more was only a fantasy of her own doing.

Sabrina took a few long deep breaths realizing she needed to compose herself immediately or her mental powers would go into overdrive and overwhelm her…

Putting an end to her train of thought, Sabrina decided she needed to continue on as she had been before and just bury what she saw deep where it wouldn't affect her work. She stood and calmly walked into the bathroom where she reconditioned her appearance in front of the mirror reapportioning her stoic demeanor and then set off to follow through with her given instructions.

The four generals trained their people to follow very different disciplines. Sabrina had her legions focus on the mind. Even those without much psychic potential would train in deciphering the subtleties in their opponent's techniques and expose their tactical flaws. Koga trained his legions in the arts of stealth, deception, and enfeeblement believing that by weakening any opponent enough even the weakest of attacks if planned right could be catastrophic. Surge trained his people in pure brute force. In becoming an unstoppable machine they could lay waste to any who got in their way. Red showed his troops the importance of having a proper balance. By spreading focus on all the different aspects of combat they may not have especially excelled in any particular field, but it didn't leave major weaknesses exposed either.

With the training regimented under way, the Team Rocket generals began preparation for their own attack on the Elite Four.


	10. Foray

Foray

The night was calm as Bruno sat on the beach of his sector of the island deep in meditation. A foreboding feeling had been troubling him lately… keeping him from training at his full potential. His fellow members of the Elite Four were up to something and not telling him. This wasn't uncommon, however this time things seemed to be happening on a different scale.

Bruno had noticed Lance's Dragon Pokémon busy at work making modifications to the surface of the island. They were morphing the island into some kind of specific shape and running what seemed to be power lines across the islands extremities. The lines ran even through his area and without his permission.

Though he typically cared not for issues that didn't directly affect his ability to become stronger, he couldn't shake the feeling that whatever was going on was going to change the perception of the world forever.

Though concentrating deeply in his meditation, the slightest of noises jarred him from his self induced trance. Looking out into the ocean Bruno noticed slight water ripples among the waves moving down the island. "A… Gyarados?" Bruno thought. Not the type to miss a training opportunity, he grabbed his Poké Ball nunchucks and followed the ripple along the cliffy coast line.

Where the coast leveled out onto smooth beach slope, an amphibious personnel carrier rolled its way up on the sand. On the side of the vehicle was painted a large red "R".

The doors on the front of the vehicle opened forming a ramp for Giovanni and his three generals to disembark.

"So this is the infamous island of the elites…" Koga looked around apparently not very impressed.

"Indeed it is… Now do try and be careful, I'd imagine this entire island is laden with traps. The Elite's don't take kindly to visitors." Giovanni insisted as he prepared his own Poké Balls.

"Intruders!" Bruno stood atop a short cliff looking down at the Rockets.

"See?" Giovanni smirked as he continued walking.

"Do not walk away from me!" Bruno yelled.

In several leaps Koga scaled the cliff and stood facing the large man, "You're fight is with me Bruno."

Bruno laughed in Koga's face, "With you? It will take all of you to make me break a sweat!"

Koga grinned, "We'll see…"

Giovanni nodded to his other two generals, "You two find your targets while I go say hi the leader of the Elite Four." Bouncing a Poké Ball in his hand, Giovanni disappeared into the forest.

Sabrina and Surge nodded at each other as they separated to begin their hunt.

Surge wondered through the forest coming across a cave with the entrance frozen, and snow piling up inside, "That's gotta be it," Surge laughed to himself as he entered. Surge wandered around the inside of the cave. The deeper he went the colder and darker it became. Tossing a Poké Ball, his Raichu emerged, "Hey Raichu, light this place up a bit could ya?"

The Raichu nodded and used Flash to illuminate the cavern. Surge noticed the walls of the cave were solid blocks of solid ice. Only a little deeper into the cave Surge found himself at a dead end, "Well this sucks…" he said out loud, his Raichu nodded in agreement.

A feminine laugh echoed through the tunnel, "Oh you are too easy there!"

Surge turned around quickly, "That must be her!"

"Ice Beam!" Ice flashed in front of Surge's face creating a new wall sealing off the exit to the cave and locking Surge inside a large ice box. The ice defogged revealing Lorelei standing on the other side, "I'm sorry, but it looks like you'll be staying here for a while."

__________________________

Sabrina had made it to Agatha's graveyard, carefully following the path down the middle in search of the ghost woman. The ground around Sabrina's feet began to vibrate and Ghost Pokémon emerged from the graves.

"Silly girl, you intend to fight a mistress of ghosts in the middle of a graveyard? Soon you shall join them in this site. Heeheehee." The woman laughed from the shadows as her Pokémon surrounded the girl leaving her no room to move.

__________________________

Bruno's nunchucks twirled over his head, and in fluid motion shot straight forward and released his Pokémon from the ball at the end. A giant Onyx appeared towering high above both trainers and let out a mighty growl.

Koga crossed his arms looking dejected, "Oh come now, don't insult me! I wanted Bruno to challenge me… If you really want to fight me outside of your type then fine, but don't complain when I defeat you." Koga tossed a Poké Ball releasing a Toxicroak who stood strong yet small against the Onyx.

"You think just because your Pokémon comes from a far off land that it can defeat my Onyx? Try it!"

Koga smirked, "Very well, Ningog, Bulk Up and use Rock Smash!" The Toxicroak's muscles bulged and it leapt at the rock snake. With a precisely aimed attack, the smaller ninja frog knocked the Onyx to the ground. Its rocky body took the effect of the Rock Smash and became more vulnerable.

"I see… you wish to challenge me in a fighting type match… very well," Bruno recalled his Onyx and tossed in the Poké Ball from the other end of his nunchuck. A Hitmonlee appeared and began flexing its limbs and warming up by flipping in the air.

"That's more like it… Ningog, give it your "special" Mudslap!" Reaching into the ground and filling its fist with dirt, the Toxicroak secreted a fluid from its hands to moisten the dirt into mud, and slapped the Sludge into Hitmonlee's face.

Hitmonlee kicked the Toxicroak at close range with a multi-jointed snap flinging Ningog across their battle arena. Koga's Toxicroak slid back and flipped onto its feet to a quick stop.

Bruno scowled, "You think having its accuracy lowered will impede Hitmonlee's ability to strike you enough to turn this battle?"

Koga smiled, "Against you probably not, but are you sure that's all I've done?"

Bruno scrunched his face in confusion. Looking to his Hitmonlee, he realized the Pokémon was looking ill all of a sudden. The realization hit Bruno quite suddenly, "You mixed poison into your attack!"

Koga smiled, "Your Hitmonlee has taken the effects of both Mud Slap and Sludge Bomb at close contact. Soon its attacks will be too weak to harm my Toxicroak. But don't let that slow the battle! Ningog, bring Hitmonlee to its knees with Poison Jab!"

The Toxicroak jumped back into battle.

"Get ready for it Hitmonlee, prepare Counter!"

__________________________

Lorelei stood outside the ice box examining her prisoner closely, "Well then gym leader… what brings you to our island?"

Lt. Surge shrugged, "Why don't you tell me? I just came to find out what my gym badge is being used for all the way out here."

Lorelei chuckled, "I see you Rockets are more resourceful than you look, did you come to take back your badge channeling device?"

"Maybe," Surge smiled.

The grin faded from Lorelei's face, the man was just too calm for her liking. He was supposed to be her prisoner. "It's a shame you'll never get it back then, or escape your prison for that matter."

Surge grinned, "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Raichu!"

"Rai!" The Pokémon charged up an electric attack and blasted the wall of ice with its thunderous power. The ice dissipated the attack and remained perfectly intact.

Lorelai started laughing, "My my, I would have thought you'd realize Mr. Electric Gym Leader that thunder attacks are useless on ice. Ice will only spread the electricity through it, effectively dissipating it in a cavern as large as this.

Surge shrugged, "It was worth a try." Surge pulled out another Poké Ball, releasing a Magnezone inside the ice block, "OK Magnezone, hit that wall with Flash Cannon!"

The Magnezone made a beeping sound and blasted the wall with its steel attack. The ice shattered instantly.

Lorelei gritted her teeth and pointing at the Magnezone shouted, "Dewgong! Aurora Beam!"

"Hehe…" Surge laughed as the beam approached, "Mirror Shot!"

The Magnezone absorbed the energy of the Aurora Beam and fired back a devastating blow at the Dewgong.

__________________________

Agatha chuckled to herself at the girl's predicament. Surrounded by ghosts on all sides, "Such a pity… oh well! Attack!" The old woman shrieked.

All of the ghosts moved in for the kill when Sabrina's eyes began to glow and a Psybeam was expelled from her body dissipating the weaker ghosts.

"What?!" Agatha stared in shock.

"Sorry, but that won't work too well against a psychic Pokémon …" Agatha turned around to see Sabrina standing behind her.

"But… You're… how?" Agatha's eye twitched.

"Alakazam, end Role Play…" The Sabrina in the grave yard below phased out revealing an Alakazam standing in her place.

Agatha gritted her teeth, "Psychic trickster…"

"Now Alakazam, Psywave!" The Alakazam emitted a wave of telepathic power keeping all the ghosts around it pinned.

"Foolish… Psychic powers are no match against the specters from beyond!"

__________________________

Koga's Toxicroak was in the middle of a fierce battle with Bruno's Hitmontop. The upside down Pokémon was spinning mad, throwing punches and kicks at random. Ningog was barely able to defend against them all.

"In a battle of spirit, I will not lose… Use Close Combat Hitmontop!" The fighting Pokémon took things a level higher, it's punches and kicks became fiercer and faster…

Koga's Toxicroak was knocked hard on the head and sent flying taking quite a bit of damage.

"Now finish it! Use Focus Punch!" The Hitmontop leapt into the air focusing all of its power into its fist to unleash at the moment of contact when it came crashing down on top of Ningog.

"This is what we've been waiting for Ningog, take the hit!" Koga crossed his fingers that his Pokémon could withstand such a blow.

The Hitmontop crashed into the Toxicroak with amazing force, splitting the ground beneath them as it made contact. Ningog didn't look good, but was still standing.

"NOW NINGOG! REVENGE!" Ningog's eyes began to glow with power, taking all the damage it received from that Focus Punch, it turned to the Hitmontop and struck with twice the devastating force it had just received.

Bruno had to brace himself as the force of the punch nearly blew him off his feet. When the dust cleared Bruno opened his eyes to find his Hitmontop on the ground, not moving. Its head twisted in an unnatural way and blood trailed from its mouth.

"Nooo…" Bruno sank to the ground by his Pokémon and felt for a heartbeat. Finding none he stood and clenched his fist.

"It's your own fault for using attacks that lowered your own defense. You should have taken that into consideration when fighting a battle where your opponent is already using enfeebles to hinder your other abilities," Koga stated coldly.

Bruno gritted his teeth, "I... I'll break you!" He threw another Poké Ball releasing Hitmonchan. "Dynamic Punch!"

Koga shook his head, "No, this battle is over," Koga tossed another Poké Ball in as well, "Golbat, Air Cutter!"

The bat screeched loudly, and hit Hitmonchan in the middle of its attack scoring a critical hit. Hitmonchan was thrown off its feet, weakened by the effective move.

"Concede! You have lost." Koga stood in front of the large man, his arms crossed, both his Pokémon at his sides.

__________________________

Surge's Magnezone finally went down after a long battle with Lorelei's Glalie. "Awww… now what am I gonna do?" Surge taunted the ice master, "All I have left is this pathetic Pokémon …" Surge tossed a Poké Ball releasing a Bastiodon. Its steel face an intimidating site before the Glalie.

Lorelei grunted "Glalie! Give it everything you've got!" The Glalie hopped into place and struck the large steel beast with all of its ice power.

Surge seemed to ignore the attacks, and gave no commands.

All of Glalie's ice attacks hit the Bastiodon head on, but the Pokémon stood there as if it weren't even being tickled.

Lorelei called off the attack realizing her Glalie wasn't causing any damage, "That's enough Glalie…"

"Yeah I thought so too," Surge pointed to the Glalie, "Use Iron Head!" The Bastiodon charged the Glalie and butted it hard with its steel skull. The ice the Glalie used to defend itself broke off and the Pokémon rolled away.

"Don't go thinking you're so good, I'm not done yet!" Lorelei tossed in another Poké Ball calling out a Walrein, "Steel attacks won't work so well on this Pokémon!" Lorelei exclaimed.

Lt. Surge looked at the blubbery Pokémon funny and shrugged, "OK… Raichu?"

The electric mouse jumped out from behind Surge, "Rai!"

Through the course of the fight, Lorelei had lost track of the electric Pokémon, "No!" It was too late; Raichu had already built up enough energy and fired a Thunder blast at the Walrein. The Walrein crawled back over to its master, electrical burns covering its body.

Surge shrugged and smiled to Lorelei, "Hey we could keep doing this all night or we could jump in the sack and call it even!"

Lorelei grunted not believing she was losing to such a stuck up jerk…

__________________________

"Use Dark Pulse…" Sableye, Weavile, and Absol all used the move at the same time vanquishing a multitude of copies and substitutes Agatha's Gengars and Haunters made of themselves.

"Gah… Foul Dark moves… Fine! Curse them Gengar!"

Gengar laughed maniacally as it grabbed a steak and prepared to stab itself.

"Alakazam, Skill Swap, now." The Alakazam looked at the Gengar and in a flash of light Gengar forgot how the Curse ceremony went. "Now Alakazam, Night Shade!" Turning the ghost moves against them, the Alakzam, focused its power on the nearest Haunter. The Haunter was blown away and fell from the sky.

"Your Pokémon won't be able to continue battling like this much longer…" Sabrina said sounding extremely stoic.

"Impudent child! My ghost's powers still reach far beyond the depths of your human perception!" Agatha threw a fresh Gengar into the battle, "Gengar! Mass Hypnosis!" The Gengar emitted energy waves to put the Pokémon surrounding it to sleep, "Sleep them, and use Nightmare!"

The Alakazam started flinching in its sleep suffering from horrible dreams. Agatha laughed at its dilemma, "Now you'll see!" The old woman's laugh echoed throughout her graveyard domain.

A tap on the shoulder caused her to end the self gratification, "What?"

Sabrina pointed toward the battle area where Weavile, Sableye, and Absol had Gengar surrounded, left unaffected by the psychic hypnosis move. "Dark Pulse."

On command the three Pokémon combined their powers and used the ability to wipe the Gengar out of the physical realm.

"NO!" Agatha cried at the opposing Pokémon.

"It is useless, you cannot win this battle." Sabrina stated uncaringly.

"RAAAAGGGHHHH!" Agatha screamed furiously. She knew she had to think of something fast as she was running out of tactics…

Sabrina stood tall and confident she could handle anything the old hag could throw hey way at this point, "I will end this now…"

______________________________


	11. Omission

Omission

Lance looked over his design specifications. He'd made all the necessary changes, had everything in place… He was very meticulous about the things he did though, he always got things right the first time. It was his take on life.

A Dragonite came flying in from above it landed by Lance making low pitched sound, "What?" Lance looked oddly at his pet and placed his hand on its head. The images within Dragonite's mind rushed into Lance's. Across the island his fellow members of the Elite Four were battling with intruders… and apparently losing…

Lance clenched his fist, "So someone's actually daring to invade my domain?!"

"Indeed someone is…" Startled Lance's spun around finding Giovanni himself only a few feet behind him.

"Your prowess is worthy of much praise, no ordinary person is capable of sneaking up on me like that…"

Giovanni grinned smugly, "Sneaking up on anyone is far from difficult when they're sufficiently distracted in what they're doing."

Lance nodded studying the man in front of him for a moment, a grin grew quickly across his face, "Now this is a surprise… having the sudden company of Mr. Giovanni."

"Ah so you've heard of me," Giovanni never broke his posture.

"Yes I have… I had actually been hoping for a chance to meet with you soon… Giovanni, the missing Gym Leader from Viridian City. Rumored to be undefeatable… You just up and disappeared off the face of the earth almost ten years ago…" Lance slowly walked to Giovanni's side, neither taking their sights off the other, not even long enough to blink.

"Has it really been that long… wow… I suppose so… I was just a boy back then after all… I'm surprised you know the story and all… One would think it's rather boring."

"Boring? A story of a boy who leaves on his Pokémon journey and never loses a single battle… He returns to his hometown a hero and becomes the greatest gym leader to have ever lived, only to one day vanish without a trace… I don't just know the story… I lived it! Followed it myself… I too am a boy from the Viridian Forest. After hearing of your story I climbed the steps of challenges refusing to lose a single one! Years ago the thought even struck me of perhaps taking up your mantle and becoming a Gym Leader for the Viridian Gym. I wasn't satisfied there though… I had further to climb, and I ascended to where I am now as the leader of the unstoppable Elite Four!"

Giovanni laughed, "I should feel flattered I suppose, being the role model that lead to all this and all… The Elite Four unstoppable though? Hardly…"

"Ah yes…" Lance nodded knowing of the attacks on the other Elite Four members on the island, "it makes sense now… to most of the world the Gym Leader of Viridian simply went missing… but in actuality you continued to progress didn't you? Yes Gym Leader wasn't enough for you either. No… I can see it now… You are quite deserving of it… the title of leader of the notorious gang Team Rocket!"

"Observant too I see…" Giovanni removed his business coat, his vest underneath with the large "R" patched into it showed proudly with his Poké Balls at his side.

Lance scowled, "Tell me though, do you really believe your blundering Team Rocket peons to be capable of defeating the Elite Four?!"

Giovanni laughed, "I'm sorry to burst your high floating bubble; however by now my _generals_ have already defeated your other Elite Four members."

"I seriously doubt that, they aren't the type to fall easily."

"I never said they fell easily… you just have to understand that separated, Team Rocket has the Elite Four completely outclassed." Giovanni chuckled, "Now then, you all stole a device that belongs to me. I want it returned with everything that was in it."

Lance assumed a defensive position, "One does not simply walk into my domain and make demands Mr. Giovanni…"

"And what happens to those who do?" Giovanni asked coyly.

Lance scowled at the man, "That's a bold question for someone who doesn't even have a Pokémon out and ready to ask." Giovanni smirked still as confident as ever, "Well then I'll let Dragonite answer for me!"

Dragonite jumped in the air and dove for Giovanni. Giovanni stood tall and merely tapped his foot on the ground. Lance's eyes widened as he felt a slight vibration in the ground, "Pull back Dragonite!" An enormous Dugtrio emerged from the ground in front of its master leaving only centimeters between it and the startled Dragonite who slid to a halt.

"Rock Tomb," Giovanni commanded. The Dugtrio kicked up solid rocks from the earth below throwing enough rocks onto the Dragonite to knock it over and nearly bury it.

The Dragonite slowly climbed back up to its feet and stared down the Dugtrio, "Show that Dugtrio that you're prepared for a ground assault! Use Aqua Tail!" The Dragonite sluggishly charged towards the Dugtrio, a wave of water building behind it.

"I'm afraid Dragonite is just too slow to get to my Dugtrio like that… Dig!" The Dugtrio burrowed underground, evading Dragonite's attack.

"Dig is useless against an enemy that can Fly!" with a flap of its wings, the Dragonite lifted from the ground, keeping itself hovering several feet above the battlefield out of Dig's range.

"Then let's up the stakes a bit!" Opening his coat, Giovanni quickly removed and tossed a Poké Ball into action. The Poké Ball opened releasing a Rhyperior.

Lance's eyebrow twitched, impressed with the amazingly fast movements Giovanni used to throw the Poké Ball in. Shaking it off Lance shouted to Giovanni, "Impressive, but Rhyperior still has many weaknesses!"

"This may be true, but unfortunately for your Dragonite, Fly is not one of them," Lance gritted his teeth realizing he'd have to make Dragonite land to use more suitable moves for this battle… however landing would put Dragonite in range of Dugtrio… "Hesitant are we? Fine I'll move, Stone Edge!"

The Rhyperior trudged toward the Dragonite in all its armored glory. Taking a great leap it flew through the air, its extended elbow hardened to stone and smashed into the Dragonite. The Dragonite became partially dazed from the effect of receiving a critical hit. Rhyperior landed shaking the ground below it, and immediately turned to face Dragonite again.

"Just because I can't use a move your Rhyperior is weak against does not mean my Dragon's power in insufficient to take it down! Dragon Rush!" The Dragonite's eyes began to glow. In a burst of energy and speed it dashed through the air impacting Rhyperior with its Dragon aura.

Rather than stopping after the first pass, Lance's Dragonite came around and dove against Rhyperior again. Back and forth, again and again, the Dragon was pounding Rhyperior from the sky.

"Rhyperior, you're going to have to time this right, get ready for the next pass Dragonite makes!" Dragonite made a wide turn in the sky, its body still aglow with its Dragon power, "Get ready for it…" Dragonite began its approach, "Ready…" The Dragonite was only a moment away from range, "NOW! Giga Impact!"

Glowing with an incredible power of its own, Rhyperior headbutted the Dragonite as it flew in with another Dragon Rush. The impact of the two moves created a shockwave uprooting small trees from the ground around them. As the energy from the attack subsided, Lance's Dragonite was lying unconscious several meters away while Giovanni's Rhyperior sat to recoup from the attack.

Lance gritted his teeth, recalling his Dragon, "Don't go thinking I'm finished…"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Giovanni chuckled.

Throwing in a different Poké Ball, Lance called out his Salamence. The great blue Dragon spread its wings and let out a mighty cry. "While Rhyperior is still recovering, hit it with Dragon Breath!"

Taking to the air, the Salamence sped toward the downed Rhyperior, not stopping until it was in the Pokémon's face. It quickly gathered energy in its mouth and fired it all at once rolling the Rhyperior away.

"Don't give up Rhyperior!"

Lance laughed, "That Pokémon is slow, charge it again and hit it with Zen Headbutt!"

Salamance zoomed in to carry forth its order. It cut through the air and was only inches away from its target.

"Scary Face!" Giovanni shouted. The Rhyperior made a hideous expression causing the Salamence to hesitate in its attack. "Now Take Down!" With the Salamance right in front of it, Rhyperior smashed its body into the dragon, sending it rolling across the ground however taking a good amount of recoil itself Rhyperior didn't look like it was getting back up.

Lance smirked, "You sacrificed your Pokémon for a killing blow? Charming, however I'm afraid Salamance is a little more durable than that!"

"I'm well aware of that," Giovanni nodded slamming his foot on the ground. Dugtrio took its que and like a missile shot out of the ground beneath the standing Salamance launching it airborne with a cry.

The Salamance tried opening its wings to glide to a safe landing, in its disorientation however it flew straight to the ground, landing on its head. The Pokémon hit the ground with a sickening crack sound and collapsed.

Lance ran to his Pokémon quickly. Placing a hand on it he breathed a sigh of relief that it had indeed survived the fall. He returned it to its Poké Ball and turned angrily to Giovanni. "You will pay!" Lance grabbed two Poké Balls this time, throwing them in at the same time. A Dragonair and Shelgon appeared.

Giovanni shook his head, "Pointless really… this entire time already I could have been using this," Giovanni opened another of own Poké Balls releasing his Cloyster.

Lance stepped back in shock at the Ice Pokémon in the Ground Pokémon master's possession.

"Cloyster… oh just use Blizzard on them both, this battle is boring me…" Temperatures immediately dropped and ice formed on the ground as Cloyster summoned up an incredible Blizzard.

Lance's Dragons huddled away not able to deal with the extreme cold, "No! Don't give up, fight back!" Lance commanded.

"Not a chance…" Giovanni pointed to the Dragonair first, "Ice Beam." Cloyster struck Dragonair with an attack concentrated ice energy. The Dragon fell to the ground and noticeably stiffened.

Shellgon being the hardier of the Dragons began slowly marching toward Cloyster. "And still it comes…" Giovanni whistled, impressed with the creature.

"Shellgon, warm yourself with Sunny Day!" Shellgon howled to the sky, and beams of light penetrated the effects of Cloyster's Blizzard, reenergizing the Dragon. "I'm afraid Shellgon is a little more prepared for those icy water types than you realize, Solar Beam!" Absorbing light energy from Sunny Day, Shellgon released it all onto Cloyster.

"What?" Giovanni looked surprised for the first time. Cloyster was engulfed in a blistering light. Once the energy faded Cloyster was on its side, singed and sapped of energy.

Lance beamed with renewed confidence but then noticed Giovanni himself had gone missing from where he was standing before the attack, "After all that mouthing off, the great Giovanni runs away?!" Lance yelled and started to laugh.

"Not at all, but the vantage point seemed much more well off over here," Lance jumped with a yelp as Giovanni's voice came from behind him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Lance barked at the man.

"Watching your Shellgon's last moments I believe," Giovanni motioned with his face to the battle scene.

Feeling the ground tremble, Lance quickly turned back to the battle. The trees on either side of his Shellgon were snapping like twigs and falling. From within the foliage emerged a Nidoking on the right, and Nidoqueen on the left.

"Dragon Breath!" Lance shouted to his Shellgon. The Pokémon surrounded itself in the attack, however the Nidos simply walked through it, not taking enough damage to even make them flinch.

One Nido stood on either side of the Shellgon, "I would return Shellgon to its Poké Ball if I were you…"

"What?" Lance looked angry to Giovanni.

"Do it!" Giovanni shouted. The two Nidos nodded to each other each put one hand on the shellgon's shell holding it in place, and pulled their other fists back. Incredible energy began swirling around their fists. Shellgon desperately blew its Dragon Breath to the left and to the right hoping to shake the two large Pokémon off of it, but having a head which didn't extend past its shell made it impossible to turn enough to hit them.

The energy continued to build around the Nido's fists. A bright glow indicated the attack was ready. Giovanni looked to Lance, took note of his indecision and shook his head, "This was a poor judgment on your part, Focus Punch!"

"NOOOO!" Lance yelled. The two Nidos fists connected with the shell at the same time causing the tough boney structure to collapse. The Shellgon howled in pain as it sank to its knees. The unstable cellular goop beneath the shell began to ooze out like egg yolk. Shellgon's eyes closed and it fell to the ground, lifeless.

Lance shook his head, "Y… You… Monster!"

Giovanni shrugged his shoulders and recollected his Pokémon, "This was your doing, you could have simply given me what I wanted in the first place…"

Lance clenched his fist tight. Turning, Lance ran up a set of stairs to a platform. From on top of the platform Lance looked down at Giovanni, "You want your precious contraption Gym leader?! Come take it! Get it out of here, I don't care anymore!"

Giovanni smirked and climbed the stairs.

"That's it… come on up here you murderer…" Lance mumbled under his breath.

Giovanni stepped up to the next to last step and looked around the platform. Lance gritted his teeth praying the man wouldn't realize what it was. From the vantage Giovanni had he looked out as far as his range of sight would allow in the different directions.

"I see, so this is the very center of the island," Lance cursed realizing Giovanni must have figured it out, "You really have turned the entire island into an enormous badge amplifier, I'm impressed." Giovanni looked to Lance and smiled, "Ah but this being the center of the island must mean you have just one piece still missing to complete your device, am I right?" Giovanni held out an Earth Badge he had in his possession for emphasis.

Lance clenched both fists tight as he stared angrily at the man.

"Oh what could you possibly be planning to do with a Badge amplifier this huge?" Giovanni gave Lance a pensive look, "I know! How about as an apology for our intrusion here today, I give you the piece you're missing to activate it?" Giovanni immediately tossed his badge into the air over the center of the platform.

Shocked would be an understatement as Lance watched the badge fly through the air and stop over the center of the machine. The amplifier activated, and beams of energy connected all the badges where they rested in key locations across the island. All the energy built up in the center of the island and shot skyward.

"Ooooh," Giovanni looked up and watched the beam clear a path through the clouds in the sky. Energy began to swirl over the entire area.

"You fool!" Lance chuckled at first, but soon began to laugh hysterically, "Do you have any idea what you've done?! All my preparation, all my efforts… they've all been for this! You're doomed now without a hope! I never thought you'd willing play right into my plan!" Lance's sides began to hurt he found Giovanni's overconfident downfall so amusing.

"Oh Lance my boy… There's something you have failed to realize in this situation…" Giovanni smiled wickedly from where he stood at the younger man.

Lance's hysterics slowed and he met Giovanni's gaze, "What?"

"It's not obvious?" Giovanni shrugged, "What could the master of Dragons possibly want with a gigantic amplifier used for summoning forth Legendary Pokémon of incredible power? Before I even arrived I was already aware that you had set up this entire island for the sole purpose of summoning down the Dragon King Rayquaza from far above the clouds."

Lance took a step back, a twinge of fear creeping up his spine, "How could you have known…"

It was Giovanni's turn to laugh as he pointed to his head, "I have my ways. So… as you can see… this is no longer your plan as much as it now is a part of mine."

Lance gritted his teeth, "We'll see, I'm the dragon master here, as soon as Rayquaza comes down to earth it will be I who takes control of the great god of the sky! And I will use its power to destroy you first!"

Giovanni shook his head, "Unfortunately Rayquaza will never make it to the ground for either of us to even try…"

"WHAT?!" Lance asked furious at the insinuation.

"Just watch and you'll understand…" Giovanni grinned.

Lance looked up the sky. It was dark and thick clouds were everywhere. Radical lightning filled the air as the Badge Amplifier continued to pump energy up to the far reaches of the atmosphere. A loud roar was heard as Rayquaza's body finally dropped below the clouds.

"Here it comes…" Lance watched preparing himself.

"Heh…" Giovanni continued to watch with confidence.

Another spec dropped from above the clouds in pursuit of Rayquaza. Lance squinted his eyes trying to make it out, "Is that… an Aerodactyl?"

Up in the sky, Red rode his Aerodactyl down through the clouds, only meters away from the gigantic dragon he was chasing, Pika seated firmly on Red's right shoulder. Red watched as the grand dragon flew without wings. Its body seemed segmented into many sections and it mystically contracted them and expanded them as it slithered its way through the air.

Red caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a soft patch of scales between the harder plates of the dragon's head and the back of its neck. "That's our ticket through!" Red exclaimed. Pointing to the spot Red shouted, "Pika, ground yourself onto Rayquaza's body at that spot!"

"Pika!" the yellow rodent acknowledged, and as Aerodactly flew them in closer, Pika lunged for it, angling its small body to cut through the air it landed perfectly on the spot his master indicated.

From below Lance chuckled, "What do you possibly think a pathetic Pikachu could do against such a beast?"

"We're here sir!" Lance and Giovanni turned to see the other three generals of Team Rocket standing below the platform. Each had a member of the Elite Four securely restrained.

"Good, then commence the next phase of the plan," Giovanni ordered.

"Right!" Lt. Surge acknowledged first and threw a Poké Ball releasing a Politoad. Sabrina and Koga each added a Politoad of their own into the mix.

Lance looked completely dumbfounded at Team Rocket's tactics, "What on earth are you up to?"

"Rain Dance!" The three gym leaders commanded at once, and their Politoads began to dance in unison bringing about heavy torrents of storm.

"This is pointless…" Lance mumbled. His eyes widened as a crack of thunder echoed across the island from his left. Turning quickly he looked up at the beam of light emitted from the amplifier. The disturbance of the weather combined with the energy output of the amplifier was creating a massive electrical storm.

"But still…" Looking back to the incoming Rayquaza, a small yellow tail became visible sticking out behind Rayquaza's neck.

A massive bolt of lightning struck the tail, Pikachu being grounded into Rayquaza channeled all of the electricity through its body and down into the dragon. The Dragon let out an incredible howl as it was shocked by such a force. Another bolt of lightning was quick to follow, Pikachu's tail acted as a lightning rod, drawing all the lightning to it and channeling it through the enormous Pokémon it clenched on to. With every strike of lightning Rayquaza howled louder, its flight patterns becoming erratic.

"Almost…" Giovanni grinned up at the spectacle taking place, "You've got it!"

Rayquaza moved madly, swinging its head back in an attempt to crush the Pikachu on its back. Pikachu however was too small for the Rayquaza to do much more than squeeze him snugly. Two bolts of lightning struck at once and Rayquaza started to fall.

"That's it!" Red shouted and maneuvered Aerodactyl to freefall alongside it. Rayquaza was paralyzed from the voltage and unable to keep flying. Pikachu held on for one more bolt for good measure. Rayquaza groaned loudly and its eyes slid shut. Pika leapt off of the dragon, lining up perfectly for Red to catch him on their rapid decent.

"Good job!" Red patted his Pokémon companion, "NOW!" Red leaned forward coaxing Aerodactyl to fall faster, passing by the falling downpour of raindrops as if they were stopped in midair.

The large dragon turned and flipped limply as it fell to the surface of the island. Lance stared wide eyed as the huge dragon descended rapidly upon them.

"YOU'RE MINE!" Red shouted throwing his Poké Ball at the falling legendary. The Poké Ball hit its target making Rayquaza's body glow as it tried to pull the amazing dragon inside. The Poké Ball shook violently as it attempted to compress the large Pokémon's matter. Red stared at it willing it to close. The small ball managed to fully demolecularize Rayquaza and snapped shut, beginning the domination phase of the capturing process.

All eyes turned to the falling Poké Ball. The light on the front blinked a bright red as the ball vibrated harshly. The shaking caused it to roll randomly across the sky as it fell.

"Come on… DO IT!" Red shouted. The ball continued to shake and spin in the air. The Poké Ball gave off a blinding spark of light and stopped moving. The light on the Poké Ball turned green, "YES!!!" Still moving at incredible speed from the plunge Red pulled back on Aerodactly and swooped in catching the Poké Ball only feet above Lance's head. The young trainer circled the platform as the amplifier's energy died down, doing a victory dance on top of Aerodactyl's back. "WOOHOO!"

Lance shook his head, "I can't believe this…"

Giovanni cuffed Lance's hands behind his back, "Get used to it."

Red flew in finally making his landing on top of the platform. He jumped off his Aerodactyl and ran to Giovanni. In his excitement he jumped onto the man closing his arms around him in a tight embrace. Giovanni smiled at his wet Pokémon Master; lifting his head he kissed Red fully on the lips.

All three of the Team Rocket generals looked up in shock in either that their leader would do such a thing… or do such a thing in public…

The hours of the night passed, and the day light found Team Rocket finishing up their operation, "This is all of their Pokémon," Sabrina announced as Surge carted several crates of Poké Balls over to the group.

"Good and the badges?" Giovanni turned to Red who yawned and held out a box with all eight badges inside. "What about the original amplifier?" Koga emerged with the amplifier tucked safely under his arm.

"Looks like everything then!" Red smiled.

"Swell, then let's get going man, I'm beat!" Lt. Surge started walking away dragging the carts filled with hundreds of Poké Balls behind him.

"Wait! You're not going to leave us like this are you?" Lorelei asked fearful.

Koga shook his head, "Your binds have an electric lock that will release you in about two hours… if it doesn't malfunction."

That was pleasing news, "How do you expect us to get off this island?!" Agatha shook in exasperation against her binds. "You're stealing all of our Pokémon that we use for transport!"

Giovanni gave them all a sarcastic smile, "You all are so friendly to visitors, I'm sure someone will come by to rescue you soon."

The Elite Four gave them all a death glare as Team Rocket started to walk away.

Red smiled and waved to the bound elites, "Bye!" he called before catching up with Giovanni to walk alongside his team.

The five of them loaded everything up into their amphibious personnel carrier, and drove back out to the ocean. Surge fell asleep almost immediately as he took his seat and Koga drove being the most awake of the group.

Red yawned loudly as he leaned back in his chair. Giovanni moved to sit by him and put his arm around the boy, "With the Elite Four out of the way, I'm making it your responsibility now to deal with our other… obstacles."

Red closed his eyes and nodded, "Sure thing, as soon as we get back."

Giovanni chuckled at Red's reply. Pulling the boy's cap from his head he absently ran his hand through Red's messy hair as the boy drifted off to sleep.


	12. Denied

Denied

The Darkness stretched on seemingly endless. Nothing existed but black below, black above, and in every direction. From beyond the blackness a horizon began to glow. Cutting through the endless night the sun rose over the oceans south of Pallet town as a Charizard flew above the thick morning fog, allowing its master to take in the view.

Blue sat calmly on the back of his Charizard and watched in silence. Sometimes he would do this, fly out early in the morning while all the others of his small village still dreamed in their beds. He breathed in the crisp morning dew that could be felt above the clouds. The perfect way to forget everything else…

The fog had a tendency to sit so low over the night making the surface seem dark and murky, but from a seat in the sky, the rising sun helped Blue feel alive. Fighting back the yawn that threatened to overtake him after not sleeping the entire night before, Blue prepared himself for another long day. He'd spent the last week mostly in Saffron roughing up anyone he thought may have had some information on Team Rocket. Of course no one knew a thing… even the gym members knew nothing of the whereabouts of their leader only that she'd left days prior and hadn't been seen since. It was so frustrating…

These early mornings were the only time that Blue still reserved to let go, be free, and not go completely crazy. The boy actually grinned slightly to himself as he watched flock of Wingull and Pelipper below him as they glided over the surface of the fog preparing to search for their morning meal. Flying in lower Blue joined their altitude. If he reached down with his hand he could have scooped up the thick foggy moisture.

The Wingull all suddenly scattered in random directions in an apparent panic. Blue stood immediately scanning over the area to figure out what would have scared all the Wingull so badly. Looking around, Blue couldn't see any other birds or predators nearby.

Blue almost fell off from surprise as his Charizard's gliding was halted by a strong upward thrust. A loud oceanic roar echoed in the sky and Blue noticed the jaw of a Gyarados sinking into his Charizard's sides. The sea monster arched in the air and began its plunge back through the mist below, Charizard held firmly in its mouth.

"Charizard, slash!" On command the Charizard began to flail its claws against the face of the Gyarados. This only seemed to cause Gyarados to bite down harder and make Charizard scream in pain. Charizard's blood dripped into the air from the punctures of the Gyarados fangs mixing into the dark thick clouds they were plunging straight down toward the sea water.

Blue didn't have time to react; his Charizard wrapped its wings around his body to protect him as they collided with the surface of the ocean and were driven deep under water by the Gyarados' dive. Opening his eyes Blue saw his Charizard floating helplessly under the water unconscious. He immediately recalled it to its Poké Ball and withdrew another summoning his Golduck. Taking immediately to its master's plight, Golduck grabbed the boy and swam up to the surface.

The moment Blue's head punctured the Ocean's surface he drew in a deep breath and coughed out the water he'd taken into his lungs. Golduck instinctively used Surf and allowed Blue to climb on top of it.

Blue took a look around. Just as he thought… not much sun was penetrating the fog leaving it very dark down here still, "That Gyarados could still be around here… be careful Golduck…" Blue gritted his teeth knowing no Gyarados would naturally jump a thousand feet into the air to pluck a Charizard from midflight. There had to be a trainer around here somewhere. Since being crowned the League Champion though, Blue had become used to ridiculous challenges coming at him from out of nowhere.

"Well come on out then! I don't have all morning!" Blue shouted into the mist.

A flapping sound became audible but Blue couldn't see anything yet. The sound was moving, coming from his right, then from his left. It was circling around him like a Fearow descending upon its prey. From the beat of its wings Blue could tell he was up against a larger bird. No the sound was of the beat of leathery wings like a dragon or bat; there was no ruffling sound of feathers on the upward flap. The sound then stopped entirely. Blue listened harder realizing the flying Pokémon must be gliding.

Quicker than he anticipated, Blue was descended upon. Sharp talons dug into his shoulders lifting him from his Golduck's back. "HEY!" Blue shouted, but was quickly quieted as his body was shoved underwater. Blue was dragged quickly under the water's surface. He was lifted out of the water only to be dunked fiercely again, and again, and again. Golduck was starting catch up to them and the attacking Pokémon took notice and flew up into the sky a good ten meters before letting Blue go, letting him fall back into the ocean.

Golduck quickly retrieved its master again. Once above the water's surface Blue hacked uncontrollably. Once able Blue stated aloud, "This guy's trying to kill me…"

Looking up Blue made out a small falling object. A bright light was emitted from it and then something fell from it splashing into the water. "Great… another Pokémon to deal with…" Blue climbed back onto Golduck, "Come on, we can't just stand still, Surf!"

Golduck started quickly cutting through the water. Without his flyer and no other water types, Blue realized he was going to have to find some kind of land to launch a counter attack from. A small island came into view only a few hundred meters away. "It will have to do!" Blue told his Golduck and they rushed to make it.

Only half way there and water exploded upward from in front of them. Golduck screeched to a stop but wasn't able to before it was in range of Mega Punch from a Poliwrath. Blue fell off the Golduck as his Pokémon was rocketed upward.

Blue floated on the surface of the ocean and waited for Poliwrath's next move. Instead of making another move as Blue thought it would, the Pokémon just floated in front of him, staring him down.

The flapping sound returned, and from the fog the Pokémon came into view. Blue now recognized it as an Aerodactyl, "You're not giving up already are you?"

Blue's eyes widened in shock and stared in disbelief at the source of that voice. Circling around again, Red looked Blue down from over his shoulder. Blue's world slowed to a crawl as he took in Red's dark clothes, several articles of which had Team Rocket's "R" emblem.

"But why Red… why would you actually join them?" Red was barely able to make out the words from the low tone Blue used.

The Aerodactyl flew in closer and the Poliwrath leaned forward onto its face creating a platform for Red to hop on to. Red got down on his haunches to get within better speaking range to Blue who only had his head above the water.

"Why?" Red gave Blue a look as if the answer should be obvious. "You're seriously asking me why?"

Blue nodded in the water.

Red's shoulders shook as he looked as if he were trying to contain his laughter. Not able to anymore he fell back onto his Poliwrath and laughed loudly for a few more seconds, "Where else are there people who treat me like a family? With love… like I belong and am a part of them?"

Blue squinted his eyes trying to comprehend the response, "But Red… You were loved… and you were part of our family…"

Red's glare shot down to meet Blue's face, his expression changed in an instant to rage, "FUCK YOU!" he shouted loud enough for his voice to echo for miles. Blue blinked not knowing what to say to that reaction. "A family… you call what we had a family?! Let me ask you what is it that makes a family a family?"

Blue stared at Red mournfully before piecing together his words, "A family are the people you go to who you know you can trust, who urges you to be a better person and to do the right things, who you know will never hurt you, who will help you through anything, and who will always be there for you…"

"SO WHERE WERE YOU THEN?!" Red shouted again.

The outburst made Blue stiffen in the water. For the first time in his life Blue was having difficulty forming words, his composed demeanor fading, "I… I looked everywhere for you… Tore through mountains, and caves, and abandoned buildings looking for any trace of you…"

Red chuckled to himself, "Yeah… it must have been rough becoming the champ and not being able to gloat to me about it…"

"THAT TITLE IS WORTHLESS TO ME!" Blue shouted back for the first time. "…The entire tournament was completely pointless to me without you there to challenge me for it…"

"So that's why you all competed in the tournament instead of coming to save me… because it was pointless to you… it all makes sense now!" Red smiled sarcastically at his old friend.

"That's not how it happened! No one even knew anything had happened to you… we all just thought you were running late…" Blue prayed for words to make Red understand.

Red was quiet for a moment as he stared at Blue. He bit his lower lip as his mind replayed his memories from that time, "Do you know what I was doing the day of the tournament?" Red started laughing again. "I was watching it on TV actually. I got to see you standing there in all your cocky glory, winning match after match with so much ease as if just to prove how awesome you are. Yeah…" Red stood up on top of his Poliwrath, "Yeah… I watched it alright… I watched while suspended on an iron plate as three Magnetons electrified me to the brink of death as punishment for trying to escape! The entire time knowing that as long as you were on that TV that there was no one coming to save me from it…"

Blue couldn't shut his mouth as he stared at Red in horror and shock as he listened to the story, "Team Rocket did that to you?"

Red shook his head, "No… you did!" Red whistled into the air, and while Blue was still too shocked to react, the familiar talons of two feet bit into his shoulder and roughly pushed his head under the surface of the water. Blue struggled frantically, waving his arms about for anything to try and pull himself out with. After about a minute the struggling slowed, and then stopped completely and the boy's arms sank beneath the water. Red made another whistle sound and his Aerodactyl lifted the boy out placing him next to Red on top of the Poliwrath. Red kicked Blue hard in the diaphragm forcing out the water he'd taken in and restoring his breathing.

A skimming noise reached Red's ears causing him to look up and see Blue's Golduck had woken up and was storming toward him. Red smirked as a wave built up on Golduck's side and Gyarados emerged. Howling loudly, the larger Pokémon bit down on the duck as it passed by and violently flung it up into the air where Aerodactyl swooped in and caught the duck lifting up into the sky. Aerodactyl flew higher and higher, breaking past the clouds, and taking it far into the clear blue sky before he tossed the duck.

Aerodactyl charged for Sky Attack as the Golduck fell helplessly thousands of feet. Once ready, Aerodactyl bolted straight down cutting through the air and gained on the falling Golduck at an incredible velocity. The attack impacted its target crunching the wayward duck and forcing it to fall at an increased speed. From such a high altitude, Golduck impacted the ocean with force considerable to crashing through a solid brick wall. Aerodactyl returned to its master's side and Red petted it gently on its rocky beak. With another whistle Red hopped back onto Aerodactyl and had it grab onto Blue with one talon before recalling his other Pokémon to their balls and flew off back to Saffron City.

_________________________________________

Compensation

"Poké Ball go!" We both threw our Poké Balls at the same time, but Red's was the one that hit the Ninetails first.

"Woohoo!" he shouted excitedly as his Poké Ball returned to him, but I stepped in and caught it instead. "Blue what are you doing? It's mine, my Poké Ball caught it!" Red put his hand on the ball next to mine.

I smiled smugly at him, "Perhaps, but it was my Machamp that weakened it!" My Machamp that Red had been using…

A defeated look crossed his face as I pulled the ball from his grasp. I was such a bully of a kid wasn't I? Red didn't complain about it any further, he simply gathered up all of his Poké Balls and we went our separate ways.

He needs to toughen up, I told myself. He was too soft, treated his Pokémon too gently. They'd never become great battlers like that. Almost out of earshot I heard him shout, "I'll get you back next time Blue!" and I can't help but smile to myself. I put my hand out to my side in a wave gesture not really caring if he saw it or not. I knew he could take my rougher side, so that's what I always showed him.

Maybe I should have taken the time to show him more of my kinder side also…

"…knew you could do it, not even a League Champion holds up to your skill now." Blue opened his eyes taking in his surroundings.

"He's awake!" Sitting quickly, Blue looked around and realized he was in some kind of prison cell. The walls were all a pasty color, and a thick sheet of clear plastic with a few drilled holes to allow air and sound to pass through separated him from his observers in the hall.

Blue's eyes squinted as he made out Red standing on the other side, the boy's arms crossed staring at him with a harsh smile, and a larger man in a business suit behind him with a similar smile bared across his face, "Who are you, and what do you want from me?"

"Not much on pleasantries is he?" The man chuckled.

"No, he's never cared much about anyone but himself though," Red shook his head his cocky expression unchanging.

Blue sighed still not believing things could turn out this way, standing from the cot he had been laying on he walked to the clear wall, "And while you're at it, where are my Pokémon?"

Red pulled out a belt he'd been holding onto and waved it in front of Blue, "I've got them all right here… well… almost all of them…"

Blue scrunched his face about to demand an explanation.

"Your Golduck decided it wanted to put up a bit of a fight still after you passed out. Unfortunately I thought it could have actually been a strong Pokémon and my Gyarados and Aerodactyl ended up being a little too rough on it."

Blue's eyes widened in horror, "You mean you…?"

"It's such a shame that a Pokémon had to suffer for your faults…" Blue clenched his fist, anger obviously swelling within him. The man at Red's side began to laugh apparently amused by Blue's plight.

Blue's fist stopped shaking and he looked at the man, "I get it now… I know who _you _are. You're the infamous leader of Team Rocket… wait… Let me take another stab and also say you're the legendary missing Gym Leader of Veridian City!"

Giovanni whistled, "I'm impressed by your powers of deduction, how did you manage to figure both of those out so quickly?"

Blue's eyes narrowed seriously, "For one thing Rocket's goons don't dress nearly as formal as you are."

"I see… I'll have to amend the dress code."

"And the part about the Viridian Gym Leader I was able to guess because of the time I spent searching for Red." Red's smile faded as he looked on suddenly interested in what Blue was saying, "I saw the battle field. The Gym had completely collapsed, the ground was scorched, and traces of the monstrous battle were left littered over the entire area."

Giovanni looked down at Red noticing his focus of attention, "Yes I remember that battle well myself."

"I bet you do. From everything that's happened I can assume you defeated Red in battle that day. But from what I saw I can also assume that your victory was marginal at best. Red, a little boy from Pallet Town, gave you, a legendary undefeated warrior, a run for his money. That's why you took him. Had I only suspected Team Rocket's continued existence sooner maybe I could have pieced together that Rocket's mysterious leader and the incredible Veridian Gym Leader were one in the same. Between the two of us we would have kicked your sorry Team's ass and you never would have had any hold over my best friend!"

Red blinked a few times, obviously thinking about Blue's words, but not really looking phased one way or the other.

Giovanni laughed loudly, "Oh my Blue… it would seem you assume I have kept Red under my employ all this time against his will. This is just not the case." Giovanni moved to stand behind Red, "It's true Red carries out many assignments for me, but he accepts them all without hesitation, and I reward him greatly for his accomplished tasks. Which reminds me…" Giovanni put his hands on Red's shoulders, "I haven't rewarded him for capturing you…" The man's hands slid down Red's chest, embracing him close they found the bottom hem of his shirt and began snaking their way up inside along Red's bare flesh.

Blue's eyes widened and he started banging on the wall of his cell, "DON'T TOUCH HIM! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM NOW!"

Giovanni chuckled to himself, "Looks like we hit a nerve doesn't it Red?" Giovanni's mouth moved in and nipped at Red's ear while one of his hands moved all around and caressed the boy. Red let out a moan and his legs grew weak.

"Nooo…" Blue whispered as he watched Giovanni fondle his friend.

Pinching hard with his hands and sucking in hard at the same time made Red squirm and moan louder, "Ah… Ah AHHH!"

Letting go Giovanni stepped to Red's side, "Oh we're being terribly rude to our guest… We should take your reward back to your room as not to leave him so flustered…" Blue angrily kicked at the wall with a grunt of frustration. Giovanni cupped Red's cheeks and kissed him passionately, "Come now."

Red nodded and hurriedly followed Giovanni out.

"We'll send a guard with food for you later… champion…" Giovanni laughed as he closed the door behind them.

Blue watched them go and sank to the floor. Now fully piecing together the life Red has been leading for the past three years Blue slammed his fists against the cold cement floor. Not satisfied he pounded the floor again, and again, until the force caused his knuckles to bleed.

"I'm sorry Red… I'm so sorry…"

Red Anxiously followed Giovanni through the building. Giovanni seemed to be walking perfectly calm; however Red was having difficulty hiding his excitement.

"Good morning," Giovanni smiled nonchalantly to Sabrina as they passed her in the hall.

Sabrina nodded to him and then her eyes fell to Red. Her stare kept Red from breaking eye contact and a strange feeling surfaced from the pit of Red's stomach. The world slowed down as he felt suddenly exposed by her penetrating glare. The look on her face though… Red's mind was suddenly filled with thoughts of… sadness?

The two passed each other and Red's senses returned to normal.

Giovanni keyed in the code to Red's room and the two entered.

As soon as the door was closed, Giovanni's hands went to Red's clothes and began pulling them off. Red's hat was pulled from his head and thrown to the side, his pullover quick to follow. With a little more care, Giovanni unclasped and removed Red's custom Pokémon belt that held his twelve Poké Balls and set it down very gently before continuing to undress the boy.

Giovanni pushed Red down onto the bed and genuinely smiled down at the boy before consummating his feelings once again and making love to him. The lights fell dark in the room to accommodate a more romantic atmosphere. The soundproofing of the room served it well as none of the passersby heard a thing for the few hours of passion within.

The two of them lied together, embraced by each other for a while longer in silence. "This leaves only a few other major obstacles in our way…" Giovanni stated to break the spell before either of them fell prey to sleep.

"Are you going to reward me like this for each one I get out of our way?" Red giggled as he nuzzled into Giovanni's neck.

Giovanni laughed, "Don't worry… there's plenty more reward where this came from."

In Pallet town, Professor Samuel Oak stood by the shore tapping his foot impatiently for his grandson to return. He looked down at his watch realizing it had been six hours past the time Blue's traditional routine brought him back to town.

"Where is he…?" Prof. Oak said to himself, worry evident over his features. He had a horrible feeling of dread that he hadn't been able to shake all morning.

"Prof. OAK!" a voice shouted from down the beach. Prof. Oak recognized it to be Green who had called his name and hurried over to her.

"What is i…?" Prof. Oak gasped at the sickening sight of a mangled Golduck that had washed up onto the beach. Its torso was lined with punctures in the pattern of a large bite mark, many of its bones seemed to be twisted in very unnatural ways, and it looked as though it had bled out completely into the ocean.

Green was kneeling by the Pokémon not sure what to do, "This is Blue's Golduck!" Green was doing her best to keep her cool demeanor, but she couldn't help the wave of panic that was washing over her.

Prof. Oak covered his mouth realizing his fears were coming true. Grabbing Green by her arm he hoisted her up and dragged her down the beach.

"Professor! What are you doing?" The girl demanded.

"Come on! We have to leave town, NOW!" Prof. Oak ran with Green behind him to a secret place he hoped from where they would be safe at until he could think of something…


	13. Exile

Exile

A crisp warm breeze blew through the trees of Cinnabar Island. A young trainer was playing with his Growlithe in an open field of the southern island. "Go fetch Growly!" He shouted as he tossed a ball high into the air.

"Growl growl!" The Growlithe barked as it chased after the ball.

As the ball flew through the air, a low rumbling noise was heard in the distance through the trees. The bass of the noise caused the ball to vibrate in midair.

The boy and his Growlithe stopped for a moment and looked in the direction of the noise. Two more quick rumbles echoed from the trees in rapid succession.

The Growlith returned to its master with the ball in its mouth and looked up at the boy questioningly. The boy shrugged and took the ball to keep playing.

Deeper into the woods of Cinnabar, a bald man with a long white mustache sat on the back of his Rapidash as he watched his Pokémon train.

"Camerupt! You're letting your guard down again, be more observant! Magmorter, you're looking good. Just be a little more mindful of your footing while attacking!"

The two Pokémon continued their spar in the field. Magmorter launched Fire Blast from its hands as if they were cannons. Each shot shook the area with a deep bass sound and caused heat to spread through their battle ground like a shockwave.

Camerupt countered by launching Eruption from its humps having much the same effect.

The two Pokémon continued their battle for several more intense minutes before their master called it to an end, "Getting better you two! Rest up now." He called them back to their Poké Balls and patted Rapidash on the head, "Let's head back to the lab now then."

The horse whinnied in confirmation and began to slowly trot down the hidden paths of the island.

The man on the horse was preoccupied with a book he was reading, not concerned as his Rapidash knew the way home quite well enough on its own. The quick pattering of steps not belonging to his Rapidash broke his focus away from his literature. Not just one set of steps… there were more just a little further off of the first set he heard.

"Let's see what's going on, but try and stay out of site ok Rapidash?" The Rapidash nodded and very quietly moved in to watch the incoming sounds.

Taking cover behind the foliage, the man watched as the running footsteps reached the top of a nearby hill. It was a boy; he looked as if he were being chased. He tripped at the top of the hill and began to roll the rest of the way down, grunting as he rolled.

At the bottom of the hill the boy sluggishly pushed himself back to his feet, "There he is! Get him!" At the top of the hill now were several men dressed in black clothes with large "R"s on their chests.

"Team Rocket…" the man on the Rapidash noticed.

The boy began to run again, running right past the hiding man apparently without taking notice. The man watched the boy closely as his features became momentarily clarified by the light shining through the canopy of the trees.

"Red…" The man gasped recognizing the missing boy who had helped him several times in the past.

The Rocket goons were right behind the boy and gaining on him now. Not about to let anything happen, the man quickly commanded, "Rapidash, FIRESPIN!"

The Rapidash jumped from behind the trees and shrubbery startling the Rocket soldiers with its sudden appearance. Flame erupted from its mouth encircling around the chasers, trapping them within the blaze. "That should hold them for a few seconds at least…"

The man pulled on the reigns of the Rapidash and began galloping toward Red. The boy had stopped and was watching having heard the commotion happening behind him. As the man approached his eyes widened, "Blaine?!"

"Take my hand!" Blaine called as he galloped up to Red. Red grabbed on and was swung up to take a seat behind the man on the Rapidash. "Red, what is going on?"

Red seemed to be shaking, "I… I got away from them… They've had me prisoner on an island to the southeast of here for the last three years… I… I was able to steal a Lapras and escape… Now they won't give up chasing me though."

"My word…" Blaine realized Red must have been captured shortly after the League Tournament he never appeared for. It was right after that tournament that Blaine began his isolation himself. "Don't worry, you're safe now… I won't let them take you again!"

Red rested his head on the man's back, "Thank you so much…"

The Mew cells on Blaine's arm began to react causing the man to violently flinch.

"What's wrong?" Red asked.

Blaine clutched his arm, "I'm not sure… The Mew cells I was injected with years ago have been mostly dormant for the last few years… Some terrible imbalance is making them active all of a sudden."

"It must be Team Rocket! They're up to something terrible!" Red cried out.

"What is it?" Blaine had barely asked when the foliage around them ended and the two of them found themselves surrounded on both sides by several Drapions and Skuntanks. "Poison types… and they're fast… This must be Koga's group…"

The Poison Pokémon jumped at the Rapidash hoping to gang up on it, "No you don't, Rapidash, FIREBLAST!" Rapidash needed only a moment to charge and jumped into the air. It twisted its body around in mid-jump, and let loose the attack on the approaching Pokémon. The Drapions and Skuntanks took the full barrage of the hit and were knocked back.

Though the delay was minimal, it was enough for the Rocket grunts to sweep in on their Golbats and face Blaine directly. Blaine jumped off his Rapidash to accept the challenge. Red hopped off the large horse and stood behind Blaine.

"You should retreat while you're able; you stand no chance against the likes of me…" Blaine warned the Rockets.

"Yeah right old man, show us what you've got!" The one in front, apparently the leader smarted back.

"Very well…" Blaine threw two Poké Balls into the space between them and called out his Torkoal and Magcargo. "Magcargo, offensive plan three! Torkoal, use shadow tactics set two!"

The Rocket goons were taken aback by the code in which Blaine delivered his instructions. His Pokémon teamed up and carried forth the orders perfectly; Magcargo launched a Lavaplume burning the surrounding Pokémon while Torkoal used Smoke Screen to give them more cover to attack from.

Red couldn't help but whistle as he watched Blaine's tactics unfold.

"Torkoal, switch to offensive plan five, Magcargo keep it up!" Blaine's Pokémon continued their assault on the Rocket's Pokémon launching more Lava Plumes and Flamethrowers from behind the smoke.

"Clear the smoke away Golbat, Aircutter!" The Golbat was successful in blowing out the smoke as well as dealing a strong gust blow to the two Fire Pokémon.

The Rocket's Pokémon began to close in, "This doesn't look good…" Red looked panicked. Shifting his gaze to Blaine, he caught a glimpse of the Master Ball at Blaine's side with a large "M" engraved on the top, "You're going to have to use Mewtwo!"

"I doubt that…" Blaine tossed another Poké Ball adding Camerupt into the battle. "Overheat and EXPLODE!" He shouted at the Camerupt while grabbing Red and ducking behind Rapidash.

The Camerupt turned red as incredible heat built up inside it. The ground beneath its feet started to melt and combust. Once it reached critical mass, Camerupt combined the power of Overheat into Explosion and a gigantic shockwave erupted from the volcanoes on its back, engulfing the area in a blazing fire. The non-Fire Pokémon were blow away by the force of the blast, and the Rockets who hadn't had the chance to shield themselves were burnt. They dropped to the ground trying to roll and put out their clothes.

The Camerupt fell to its side, exhausted from the stress the move placed on its body. Blaine recalled it to its Poké Ball as he came back around from behind Rapidash. Two of the grunts made it through the powerful attack relatively unscathed. They stared Blaine down angrily before throwing in a few more Pokémon.

"Oh man… it's like it didn't affect them at all! I really think you're going to have to use Mewtwo to beat them!" Red urged Blaine from behind.

Blaine raised an eyebrow to the boy but tried to ignore it, "Not yet… I still have a few other moves left! Let's go Rapidash!" The large horse whinnied and trotted onto the battlefield. "Formation 1, 3, 4!"

Rapidash took point in front of its partners, its tracks set aflame as it sped into a charge. The Rocket's Pokémon, mostly a combination of Sevipers, Dustoxes, and Wheezings prepared Sludge Bomb to counter the oncoming Fire Pokémon.

Instead of attacking directly, Magcargo and Torkoal launched their fire attacks upwards into the sky. Rapidash leapt into the air above the Rocket's Pokémon and absorbed the attack from its partners.

"Now you'll see the true potential of a Flash Fire! Go Rapidash!" Taking damage from its team mates willingly, Rapidash used Flare Blitz. The sky turned orange as the flames took mass and the air surrounding the poison Pokémon began to boil.

The Rocket grunts were screaming, unable to take the extreme heat. They quickly recalled their Pokémon and turned to run. "Retreat!" the leader called running into trees and shrubs as his eyes were blurred from the intense light of the fire.

In a disorderly retreat, all of the Team Rocket soldiers ran away in any direction they could.

Rapidash landed and trotted back to its master, shaking its head quickly to help it negate the side effects of using such a strong attack.

"You did well Rapidash, I'm proud of you," Blaine put his hand up to rub the horse's muzzle. As he petted his horse, his arm began to pulse, and he pulled his arm back as a wave of pain washed over his entire body. "What in blazes… Why are the Mew cells still reacting so strong…?"

"You really should use Mewtwo still you know…" Red stated very calmly.

Blaine took a look over his shoulder and saw the boy standing a little ways off with a wicked smile planted across his face, his arms crossed defiantly.

"Red… What… What's going on?" The wind picked up a bit and blew through Red's vest revealing a full set of Poké Balls at his side. "Your Pokémon are with you… you could have… wait…" Blaine stared at the boy beginning to understand what was happening, yet finding himself not wanting to believe it. "You could have fought them off yourself… Those goons… they were just… a decoy… a trap?"

Red reached into his back pocket and pulled out his black "R" cap, "Now you got it… But what I don't understand is why you haven't called out Mewtwo yet; nothing else you have stands a chance against me…"

Blaine stared in shock at the once sweet boy who now stood before him in a provocative challenge…

_________________________________________


	14. Volcano Badge

Volcano Badge

Blaine couldn't believe Red was wearing that shield upon his brow, "Of all people… I never would have imagined you turning to become a member of Team Rocket…" Blaine clutched his arm tightly; the Mew cells still screamed danger into his mind.

"Yeah well… Sometimes things just turn out funny that way," Red shrugged.

Blaine clenched his eyes shut, "I would imagine something terrible… horrible… no… I can't even imagine what has happened to cause this… But make no mistake; Team Rocket will never get their hands on Mewtwo ever again! Even if it means taking you down to prevent it!"

Red smiled widely, "Now that's what I like to hear!" Red whistled loudly and a high pitched screech filled Blaine's ears. Red's Aerodactyl swooped in and Red hopped on top and circled the area.

Blaine stared at the site. The memory of Red first attaining that very Pokémon entered his mind. It was thanks to his own fossil resurrection machine. If that was the case though…

"Still no Mewtwo… you think you're ready?!" Red shouted from his aerial platform.

Blaine stood poised to give commands to his trusty Pokémon, "Don't take my Pokémon lightly, they can handle more than you think!"

"If you say so!" Red tossed a Poké Ball to the surface. Blaine watched as something huge formed from the opened ball. A Gyarados roared as it fully materialized. Recognizing the beastly water type, Blaine's fire Pokémon backed away slowly from the intimidation factor.

"Don't let it frighten you, it is but one Pokémon! You all have been trained well! Show it!" Blaine encouraged.

"Hey Gyara, why don't you have a little fun for a bit?" Red shouted from the sky.

The Gyarados roared again. Blaine watched as water began to rise beneath the Gyarados. The sound of running water was getting louder, and closer. Realizing what was going on Blaine tried to warn his Pokémon.

"There's a wave coming, brace yourselves!" Just as he spoke a tidal wave of water reached the clearing behind the Gyarados as it used Surf. Gyara easily rode the wave out flooding the entire area with a gigantic splash.

Blaine coughed up a bit of water himself as he climbed back to his feet. His Pokémon also sluggishly got back up beside him.

"We've taken down plenty of water types before! Offensive plan seven! GO!" Blaine threw his other remaining Poké Ball into the fray releasing his Magmortar again.

The four Pokémon surrounded the water dragon, "Boil it!" Blaine shouted.

All four Pokémon used Fire Blast on the Gyarados. Gyarados cried out as the heat did affect it some… but not much.

"That's nothing! Gyara can take a lot more heat than that! Mewtwo really is your only chance at getting anywhere in this battle…" Of the four fire Pokémon, Magmortar appeared to be the most formidable, so Gyara concentrated an attack on the burning titan. Using Hydro Pump, the blast hit with enough intensity to blow Magmortar out of the clearing leaving a trail of steam in its path. The Magmortar was sufficiently extinguished that it could not stand again.

Blaine grit his teeth realizing now that Red's Gyarados was extraordinarily powerful. No Gyarados had ever taken out his Magmortar in less than several good hits before. "You don't know what you're saying! Mewtwo is powerful enough to lay waste to this entire island in moments! You really think you can handle such an offensive force?!"

"Posh posh, a lot of bark you keep spouting off about the _incredible_ Mewtwo, but I think you're just afraid of losing with your most powerful Pokémon!"

Blaine scowled. He couldn't believe Red's ignorance. Of all people, he should have known exactly how dangerous of a Pokémon Mewtwo was. Blaine turned his attention back to his fire Pokémon, "You're going to have to keep it from moving, restrain it now!"

Blaine's three remaining Pokémon all used Firespin creating a wall of fire around the Gyarados to keep it from moving.

Red slouched at Blaine's continued uncooperativeness, "That's… pretty pointless actually…" Red was lying on Aerodactyl's back as he flew overhead, "Just break out of it Gyara."

Gyarados glowed in power and let loose a howl of Dragon Rage. The power expelled from Gyarados's body in a great burst of energy and dispelled the Firespin attacks.

"I'd really recommend using something more powerful… otherwise Gyara is going to eat your little fire Pokémon alive. Show them we mean business!" Red ordered standing back up on his flyer.

With incredible speed, Gyara lunged at Blaine's Rapidash and clenched its teeth down into the horse's torso with a strong Bite. The horse screamed as it was lifted from the ground and violently tossed to the side where it landed near Magcargo and Torkoal. The two weaker Pokémon hadn't gotten over their friend being tossed and left writhing on the ground when the Gyarados strafed a Hyper Beam over all three of them at once. The ground beneath the fire Pokémon exploded as Hyper Beam dragged across the surface of the clearing sending dirt and rocks everywhere.

When the dust cleared, Torkoal and Magcargo were still standing, but obviously weakened. Blaine called the three of them back to their Poké Balls, finally accepting the fact that this Gyarados was too powerful for them to handle.

Blaine reached to his side and pulled out his Master Ball with the engraved "M" on the top. He stared silently at the ball for a long moment "This is grave mistake… but if you want the chance to fight Mewtwo that badly… Well… Be careful what you ask for…" Blaine threw the ball out releasing the legendary clone. Mewtwo formed and its eyes snapped open.

Red flew in closer to the battle and stared the world's most powerful psychic in the eye. A smile crossed the boy's face, "Do you remember me Mewtwo?" Mewtwo squinted its eyes and gave a single nod of the head in confirmation, "Then you'll remember that I'm the one who caught you. Once I win this battle I'll be taking you back!" Red smiled excitedly. "We have a lot to look forward to, but first I want to see a good fight. Show me how much you've improved since the last time we battled. I'm expecting a challenge!" Aerodactyl flapped its wings and lifted above the battle again.

Mewtwo watched confused as the boy lifted up into the sky leaving him to face off with the Gyarados. Blaine shook his head, "He just doesn't know… not like I know… Mewtwo was created for combat… he is a perfect weapon… And that is why I will never allow Team Rocket to get their hands on him!" In sync with its trainer Mewtwo held his hands to his side and began to charge a Psybeam.

"Hyper Beam!" Having had more than enough time to recharge since its last use, Gyara fired another Hyper Beam at Mewtwo. Mewtwo quickly countered with its Psybeam and the two attacks entered a power struggle.

At first the two attacks appeared to meet with equal force. Strong gusts of wind were blowing throughout the clearing from the magnitude of the two Pokémon's power. "Dear lord…" Blaine watched in anticipation as the two attacks didn't seem to be giving to the other. A vortex was created in the center of the attacks and began sucking in debris only to launch it all violently from within.

With a grunt, Mewtwo's attack began to gain leverage. A little more and Mewtwo was able to cancel out Gyara's attack and land his own attack throwing the huge water serpent backward. The Gyarados fell onto its side causing the ground to shake as it hit the ground.

Blaine's hopes for a quick ending were dashed when the Gyarados quickly slithered back into an attack position. Mewtwo was just as fast to continue his attacks as well. Mewtwo disappeared from site reappearing at Gyara's side to throw a ball of psychic energy. Gyara contorted his body around the blast and used Dragon Twister to ensure hitting Mewtwo wherever he teleported to. The attack struck Mewtwo squarely as it appeared after a quick Teleport. Mewtwo was flung to the ground, but used its telekinesis to soften its landing. A giant spoon, the ultimate weapon of the psychic's, materialized in its hand and it leapt for the Gyarados again.

Red was fascinated by the battle. He hadn't seen his Gyara fight so fiercely since the last time he and Giovanni had a serious sparring match. He was so caught up in watching the battle with Mewtwo that it slipped his mind to be keeping an eye on the Pokémon's owner.

"This can't go on…" Blaine reached into his lab coat and pulled out a strange looking cylindrical device. Pointing it in Red's direction the man took a deep breath, "Get a little closer…" he whispered, "Almost in range…"

Red continued to watch the battle intently as he flew in circles over the clearing. A strange feeling gave him a sudden chill down his spine. Turning momentarily toward the fire gym leader, Red noticed the man pointing something at him emitting a bright blue light.

Blaine saw his actions had been noticed, "Please reach!" Blaine prayed as he pulled the trigger and a bright beam of light escaped the wand in his hand. Red's eyes widened as the beam flew in his direction. The beam hit Aerodactyl causing the prehistoric bird to scream loudly in pain. There was a bright glow and then all Red knew was that he was falling.

Gyara saw his master falling fast and tried to move in to catch the boy. Mewtwo intervened and used the opportunity to blast Gyarados again so their battle would continue.

Red turned onto his side in an attempt to fall without getting too badly hurt. He still let out a loud groan when he hit the ground. Another small thud sound followed Red's landing.

Opening his eyes, Red looked to see what had happened. His Aerodactyl was nowhere to be seen but a small fossil now laid at his side in the grass. Red's eyes widened as he picked up the fossil with great care starting to realize what the old man had done.

Blaine cursed under his breath; he had been hoping the fall would have knocked the boy out. "It was my machine which turned it from stone to flesh, so it was always within my capacity to turn it back from flesh to stone…" Blaine stated before Red could say anything.

Red's shock immediately transformed to rage. He stood holding the fossil in his hand, "Change it back… now…"

"No," Blaine said simply.

"Give me my Aero back or you will regret it…" Red threatened in the most menacing voice he could muster. Blaine remained stoic and said nothing, "DO IT!"

"I will do nothing to help Team Rocket…" Blaine crossed his arms standing firm. A loud rumble echoed through the area as Gyara hit the ground hard again after another fierce blow from Mewtwo. "You've lost boy… there's nothing you can do to defeat Mewtwo."

Red rubbed his temple and started walking in circles, "You know… This all could have gone really nice for you… I had planned on playing with you guys for a while longer, and taking you down gently… We could have had fun and then I could have made sure nothing bad happened to you once I captured you… But you know what…?" Red stopped and glared darkly over his shoulder at the older man, "I don't care anymore…"

Red recalled his Gyarados and pulled out another Poké Ball. This one was green and looked very special. Just looking at filled Blaine with some kind of sense of dread. The Mew cells in Blaine's arm were going crazy as Blaine's eyes were entranced by the ball in Red's hand. The Poké Ball was giving off an aura… whatever was inside was incredible…

"You had your chance… no mercy for you now…" A tear streaked down Red's face as he tossed the ball. The sky darkened as the area lit up in the release of this unfathomable creature.

"My… God…" Blaine stared in disbelief as Red's Pokémon became visible through the intense light. A primal screech echoed across all of Cinnabar Island upon the release of Rayquaza.

"You think your legendary Pokémon is so special… let's see how well it fares now…" Red pointed at the Psychic, "GO!" Rayquaza let out another roar as it launched through the sky toward its target.

Mewtwo was left astounded at the speed at which Rayquaza descended upon him. "DRAGON PULSE!" Red commanded and a wave of energy emitted from Rayquaza's body drowning out even the light from the sun. In a strange blur Mewtwo found himself disoriented and with a sharp pang was hurled to the side by the monstrous attack.

Blaine clutched his arms and grit his teeth as he too could partially feel the blow dealt to Mewtwo through their psychic link.

"Dragon Dance, raise your strength to its maximum and use Outrage!" Red shouted fiercely, his anger still not subsiding.

Rayquaza roared to the heavens and its body grew noticeably larger in girth. Within a moment Rayquaza was on top of Mewtwo again and pounded the powerful Psychic against the ground so hard the surrounding rocks shattered meters away.

Mewtwo slowly climbed back to his feet and stared up viciously at his attacker, "Mewtwo, you can calm the savage beast, use Hypnosis!"

Mewtwo gathered up some psychic energy and tried to break into Rayquaza's mind and put it to sleep. It almost had the Dragon's mind cracked when the second bout of Outrage struck. With a horrible crash, Mewtwo was once again crushed against the solid rock beneath his feet. Mewtwo struggled to retain his focus and continue to hypnotize Rayquaza but the third strike from Outrage was quick to follow. The focused Dragon attack left a crater in the clearing with Mewtwo's body as the center.

Blaine had sunken to his knees after the second strike and was breathing heavily attempting to remain in control of his body. The Mew cells were driving him mad.

Mewtwo looked unconscious from above mostly buried under rock and dirt. His eyes shot open in an instant and a massive Psychic wave was shot upwards to Rayquaza, throwing the dragon back. Rayquaza flipped in mid air and stared at the now standing Mewtwo. The sky darkened further as Rayquaza prepared its next attack.

Mewtwo tried to anticipate Rayquaza's next move by charging a powerful Psychic Beam energy ball at his side. Blaine opened his eye just in time to see Rayquaza's body move so quickly across the sky it almost appeared to vanish from one position and appear in another directly behind Mewtwo, "…Extreme Speed…"

Mewtwo had no chance to react and barely turned its head to the side when Rayquaza came crashing down upon him delivering a powerful Crunch, Rayquaza's natural Dark attack.

Mewtwo lost the energy it had gathered as it was flung across the battle clearing. Mewtwo was on the verge of losing consciousness when he heard his trainer's scream. Blaine's body was unable to handle all the feedback from the Mew cells. He convulsed in pain as blood began to drip from every orifice and pore on his body.

Mewtwo ran across the battle field in horror to his trainer's side. The man was still alive…

The sound of footsteps made Mewtwo turn quickly. Red stood there still with a scowl on his face, but in a much calmer voice said, "So what is it going to be Mewtwo? Give yourself up, or kill your trainer to _try_ and keep things the way they are?"

Mewtwo closed his eyes in silent ponder for a moment. Glancing sadly to his trainer one last time, Mewtwo's body began to glow as he willed himself back into his Poké Ball.

"Good choice," Red picked the ball up off the ground and recalled Rayquaza to its special ball as well. The sky returned to its normal blue shade once Rayquaza was removed from the field. The change was hardly spirit lifting as Red held out the fossil to his prehistoric flying Pokémon and stroked it.

"I'll miss you a lot Aero…" He pocketed the fossil and whistled. Several more Rocket troops stepped out of the foliage and began attending to the fallen Blaine. Red supervised still looking solemn and pocketed the Master Ball before leaving the scene.

______________________________________

Thanks a lot to everyone reading the story so far! I just wanted to jump in at the end here and say please drop me a review. I want to know what people are thinking of the story so far. What parts are people enjoying the most? What parts need more work? What parts are just boring and need to be removed? What part of my writing do I need to improve upon to make a better story? I want to be a better writer and I need your help! Any comments are appreciated, thanks!


	15. Recluse

Recluse

Red balanced the Master Ball on the back of his hand as he watched the doctors examine Blaine in the medical cell. They had been monitoring his condition for the last several hours and it appeared he wouldn't be waking up any time soon.

"Well?" Giovanni asked impatiently to the doctor who approached with the results from the latest tests.

The doctor shook his head, "If we had gotten to him sooner… I'm afraid he's comatose… there's no telling when or if he will ever wake up again. The Mew cells in his body are still reacting violently. I'd imagine this can't be near as bad as it was during the actual battle which means his body was simply pushed beyond its limits."

Red flicked the Master Ball into the air and caught it with a swipe of his arm, "I guess I really should have taken it easier on him." Red's tone of voice was still completely void of remorse for the man.

Giovanni shook his head, "The worst part is that he took his knowledge of restoring Pokémon fossils with him… We are now in possession of Mewtwo, and he still serves functional to us in other ways… I'm sorry about Aero though…"

Red shook his head, "It's my fault letting it happen… I'll deal with it…" Red turned to leave the room and Giovanni followed close behind him.

Once the two of them were outside, Giovanni wrapped his arms around Red consolingly. Neither said a thing as Red grabbed onto the man's arms where they rested on his shoulders and leaned back into him. A sigh escaped Red's lips as he shut his eyes and tried not to think too much about it.

Giovanni removed Red's cap and pressed his lips to the boy's head. He kissed Red softly and leaned closer to whisper to his ear, "What can I do to help you?"

Red shook his head, "I'll be alright… really… Just give me some time to walk it off OK?"

Giovanni nodded and released his hold on Red, "If you need anything at all, come to me. No matter what I'm doing, I'll push that all aside for you, OK?"

Red smiled weakly and turned around. With a quick hop he wrapped his arms around the man's neck and kissed him deeply. The kiss was quick but meaningful, "Thank you…" Red let go and started to walk away.

Giovanni grinned to himself knowing Red would be fine and went back to refining his plans.

After walking around the base for a several minutes, Red realized his little talk with Giovanni really made him feel better. He felt lucky having the man in his life. Something about that thought bothered him though.

Red spent about an hour in the training rooms making sure the colonel that had been assigned to him was following through on the training regiment he made up for his legions. After looking over everything and making a few adjustments Red continued his wondering about.

The psychic brigade was training at the same time Red happened to be down on the gym floor. Deciding to take a peek at their antics, Red scanned over the room observing all of the psychic, dark, and ghost Pokémon battling about. Sabrina was also in the room towards the back going over instructions with her higher echelons.

As Red's focus fell on the psychic girl, she looked up and their eyes met from across the room. That feeling of emptiness crept up on Red again as the rest of the world blackened out. He wasn't sure what was going on and quickly stumbled out of the room.

Trying to clear his head, Red knew this wasn't some kind of psychic trick Sabrina was pulling on him… She was actually giving off some kind of dark, sad aura. Red wasn't sure why, but he felt for some reason that he was part of the cause.

Red's mind immediately flew to things he might have done to upset Sabrina. He liked the girl a lot, she was a good friend to him, and he hoped he hadn't done something to truly hurt her… He knew she had a tendency to introvert and then blow up emotionally at times… but this was different… this was darker.

Several hours had gone by before Red was sure the training sessions had all ended. Deciding he needed to speak privately with Sabrina, Red gulped as he stood before the door to her quarters. Feeling it better not to second guess himself, Red rang the bell before he chickened out.

The door cracked open, "What?" came a voice from the shadows.

Red gulped, "Hey Sabrina, it's me Red… can I talk to you for a minute?"

There was a faint curse from behind the door followed by, "Yes… you may enter…"

Some dim lights flickered on and Red stepped in. Sabrina had her back to him and slowly walked to the kitchen, "You may sit," she said in a very calm voice.

"Ummm… Thanks…" Red was starting to question his resolve in coming here to see Sabrina as he was already feeling immensely uncomfortable.

As Red delved for the words to start a conversation with Sabrina, his hearing detected the sound of tearing paper from the kitchen. It was very quiet as if not wanting him to hear it.

Red gulped again and decided he needed to cut to the chase, "Sabrina… Are you doing alright?"

"Of course, why do you ask?" Came the cold reply from the dark kitchen.

"It's just that… well… for the past several days you've seemed very sad every time I look at you."

"I have?" Sabrina stepped back into the light near the living room and looked down at Red.

Red looked up at the girl and notice just a slight redness to her eyes almost undetectable in this light, "Maybe not outward… but whenever we cross paths… I see you surrounded in this… vibe… or aura of shadow and remorse…" Red blinked and considered his choice of words from the sentence he had just uttered, "Yeah that came out pretty good… I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright, because I get the feeling you're upset about something, and that I might be part of what's making you upset…"

Sabrina remained quiet, her eyes averted to the side as she thought about this turn of events.

Red waited patiently for Sabrina to say something. After a few minutes though he began fidgeting in his chair and dropped his arms to the side. His right hand bumped against something hard. Out of reflex he grabbed onto the object. On his finger tips he felt moisture, and his curiosity took control before his sense kicked in.

Sabrina gasped as she saw what Red pulled out. Red stared in confusion for a moment at a framed picture of Sabrina and Giovanni that seemed to have speckles of water over the glass. Red had to sit and think for a second how the frame could have gotten wet all the way over here. After looking at the picture for another moment though realization finally set in that the droplets were Sabrina's tears.

Red squeezed his eyes shut feeling like such a dunce for being inconsiderate enough to even pull the picture out without permission. Immediately Red jumped out of the chair and bowed on the floor in front of Sabrina, "I'm sorry!" He kept his eyes squeezed shut not even wanting to know what kind of expression donned Sabrina's face after such a personal invasion.

Still very stoic, Sabrina sighed and leaned down to take the picture back from Red. She walked over to a chair on the other side of the living room and took a seat.

Red waited for some kind of reaction from Sabrina. She was always so private… he was sure this kind of invasion would push her over the edge.

"Get off the floor…" Red slowly stood but his gaze remained fixed on the floor. A strange sound finally made Red look up. To his surprise Sabrina was actually chuckling, "You're a funny one.

Red blushed a little, "I really am sorry though…"

Sabrina nodded, "It's… well… I know of all people around here you won't tell anyone."

Red nodded, "I wouldn't think of it!"

"But now you know…" Sabrina tapered off.

Red looked confused at Sabrina for a moment with his head tilted which actually caused her to chuckle more.

"You were wondering why I've seemed different lately, and now you know…"

Red nodded in understanding. "Oh… wow… I'm so sorry… I never thought about it… But it makes sense now… You're in love with Giovanni."

Sabrina closed her eyes and nodded in admission.

"And it was only recently that Giovanni started being a little… well… publically affectionate toward me I guess…" Red blushed remembering how Sabrina first stumbled on the two of them in the meeting room, and then Giovanni actually kissed him in front of all the Team Rocket generals and the Elite Four after he caught Rayquaza. Not to mention he held him as he slept on the submarine the whole way back.

"How long have you and Giovanni been together?" Sabrina finally asked breaking the silence.

"About three years…" Red recalled almost immediately.

"You mean ever since you first joined?" Sabrina actually seemed a little shocked she hadn't noticed until recently if this were true.

Red laughed, "It was the reason I joined at all…"

Sabrina slowly nodded, "How does it make you feel?"

"Great!" Red answered immediately, "He loves me a lot…" Stopping to consider his words a bit more, Red finally continued, "He's very good to me. I'd never known affection really until I was with him. He always compliments my victories, and encourages me to try harder and helps me back up when I don't make it… It really was something I was missing from my life before."

A sad smile formed on Sabrina's lips, "That sounds very nice, I'm happy for you then."

Red sighed heavily, "I'm sorry Sabrina…"

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Sabrina said quickly.

Red nodded, "I'm not sorry that Giovanni loves me, I am sorry that you've had to watch the person you love be affectionate toward me right in front of you… that must have been hard… I know what it's like to try so hard… to do everything you possibly can to make someone notice you only for them to act more distant or even shallow with you… And when you try to be as nice as you can for that person, do things for him that you'd never do for anyone else, and give in to his demands even when you don't agree with them in hopes that one day he'll see you the way you've always wanted him to see you." Red squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head apologetically, "It doesn't work out…"

Sabrina nodded, "I see… you had an infatuation then before your relationship with Giovanni…"

Red looked up at the ceiling, "I don't really think I'd call it an infatuation… well I don't know, maybe. I was too young at the time to know anything about that… Anyway it doesn't matter, what I wanted to get across was that I never wanted my relationship Giovanni to ever make someone feel put off… That's why I trained so hard, I guess I didn't want anyone thinking I was getting preferential treatment in any way. Of all people I especially never wanted to make you feel bad, you're a good person. Even though there's nothing I can do to change the way everyone feels, I want to somehow help you so bad because out of all the others I deal with everyday you're the only one that I really feel I can call a friend to me."

Very slowly, Sabrina pulled Red close to her and embraced him. The two silently fell to their knees, Red did his best to just console Sabrina as she rested her head on his shoulder for a moment. "It was so hard…" Sabrina sighed and shut her eyes tight, "I was devastated at first. I had always had some childish hope before that maybe one day once Team Rocket accomplished its goals that he would look at me differently… But now I understand there is no possible chance… If his tastes are in someone like you then I come nowhere close to being the kind of partner he desires." Sabrina went silent as she thought about her next confession, "I had actually been contemplating quitting Team Rocket as of late."

Red pulled away and looked into her eyes, "What?"

Sabrina nodded, "It was becoming overwhelmingly stressful for me… I internalized it so much that you were beginning to sense the malice flowing from me even though I had no intention of directing that toward you…"

"I guess that is what got me worried about you in the first place…" Red scratched his head in thought; he most certainly didn't want Sabrina to quit.

"But in all honesty, I am feeling better after sharing my troubles with you… You are very special. I can see what Giovanni finds so fascinating about you."

"Oh boy…" Red laughed.

"There is no need to feel uncomfortable as my comments are merely to reflect that I admire you. You are a strong young man and quite empathetic as well. You are truly deserving of Giovanni's affections, and… yes… I fully support your relationship with him."

Red smiled weakly, "Thanks…"

Sabrina stood and took in a deep breath regaining her composure, "I will maintain my position as a General of Team Rocket. My abilities are at your disposal whenever you may require them."

"And mine to you," Red smiled widely to his peer. "And please… If you ever have anything else bothering you, come talk to me about it."

Sabrina closed her eyes and nodded, "I would like to extend the same invitation to you as it would appear you also have many demons buried within."

Red's eyes widened, but quickly he averted his gaze and nodded. A smile crept back onto his face quickly though, "Thank you."

The door to Sabrina's room opened and Red stepped out. The two said goodbye to each other, "I'll talk to you later!" Red said energetically as he walked away down the hall.

Sabrina smiled to herself and shook her head as she closed the door to her room.

A little ways down the hall where he wasn't noticed, Giovanni grinned and walked away. He always loved it when problems just worked themselves out on their own.

_____________________________


	16. Inquisition

Inquisition

Red was feeling pleased that everything had turned out well with Sabrina. He had been worried for a while that something terrible was going to happen. He felt it really was a shame that so often people can't get what they truly desire. He sighed as he searched through the fridge in one of the break rooms for something to drink.

Talking with Sabrina had brought back some other of Red's hidden thoughts. Things he swore meant nothing to him anymore… The people he once cared so deeply for who only betrayed him… The way he always imagined things to turn out when he was younger.

Thinking about those kinds of things just gave Red a headache and made him frustrated, so he tried to shake it off. In the mix of his thoughts and finding nothing but diet soda in the fridge, Red hadn't noticed someone else step into the break room.

A little peeved that there was no grape soda in the fridge, Red slammed the door shut and found Lt. Surge standing behind it. Slightly shocked, Red still didn't let it show except for the brief widening of his eyes, "Hey there runt!"

"Hey…" Red shook his head again to try and clear out of his funky mood. "Sorry, what's going on?"

Surge shrugged, "Nothing major, all the troops are training, Koga is being a dork, and Sabrina's been all emo, so I'd say everything is normal."

Red chuckled, "That reminds me, I should probably check in on my troops training. I've got a few new things I want to try out too."

Surge grinned, "That can wait for a few minutes. I want to talk to you first."

Red cocked his head to the side, "Huh? About what?"

"Gee you make it sound like I can't talk to you…" Surge's mouth frowned slightly as he spoke.

"That's not it," Red crossed his arms, "It's just usually you don't have many meaningful things to say."

Surge took a step back, "I'm hurt! Is that all the credit I get after all these years?"

Red laughed, "Alright, alright, what is it then?"

"I just wanted to make sure I had my story straight is all, so umm…" Surge made to look around as if to make sure no one was listening, "You and the boss… you two are together or something right?" He crossed the fingers of his hand as if to emphasize his meaning.

Red slapped his face thinking here he was going to have to explain everything again… "Yeah… we're together."

Surge scratched his head, "Does that make you feel weird? You know? Like, you're basically a punky kid, and he's a big hotshot. That's not a little strange to you at all?"

Red's eye quirked at the "punky" remark and he rested his hands on his hips, "Gee thanks…"

Surge shrugged in a slight apology for his comment, "OK, OK… Sheesh… Mr. Sensitive over here…"

Red closed his eyes for a moment to word his answer, "No… It doesn't feel weird to me at all… Everything just feels right around Giovanni…"

"Oh come on, you say his full name out like that just rolls off the freakin tongue so easily, Giovanni, Giovannni," Surge said mockingly, "Don't you have some kind of a pet name for the guy or anything… like Gio… or Vanni… or something…"

Red laughed a bit, "I call him Gio every now and then, but it makes him upset. He says he doesn't want me using the same nickname scheme for him that I use for my Pokémon! He's asked me to call him Vahn before though…"

"I see, I'll have to start calling him Gio then, hehehe"

Red chuckled a bit more, "You just like annoying people don't you?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Surge laughed jovially along with Red before his gaze darkened and he smirked slyly. "So then, does he fuck you up the ass?"

"SURGE!" Red blushed in shock from the question.

Surge's expressions hardened slightly, "What? It's a valid question if you two are together, does he or does he not fuck you up the ass?"

Red wasn't sure how to handle this situation so he decided to just be honest, "Yes… he does…"

Surge took a step closer to Red, "How long has he been fucking you for now?"

Red looked to the side avoiding eye contact with the man now, "About three years…"

Surge looked mildly shocked, "Holy shit! All this time?! That damn lucky bastard!"

"Huh?" Red looked back up at Surge just as the man pressed him viciously up against the wall. "What are you doing?!"

Surge pushed his body up against Red, "You're used to this aren't you? And besides, the boss owes me." Surge's hands moved around Red and grabbed firmly onto him tightly.

Red's eyes widened and he threw Surge off of him with a great amount of force. Surge flew across the room and hit his back on the wall. Red waited for a moment to make sure Surge wasn't hurt too badly before bolting for the door. Red grabbed onto the door knob but the door wouldn't budge at all.

"You might need this perhaps?" Surge waved a keycard he had used to seal the door.

"Look… this isn't cool… Just let me out of here and we'll forget any of this ever happened, OK?" Red tried reasoning with the man.

"Nope, fraid not," Surge smiled and pocketed the card. "So all the travelling abroad did you good huh? You're a strong one, and a fighter! And oh… that turns me on!"

Red wasn't ready when for Surge to leap and tackle him to the floor.

"Stop it! Let me go!" Red struggled to push Surge off of him only to receiving a slap in the face. Red's eyes widened and his struggling fell limp.

"That's better, now then…" Surge started pulling off Red's clothes, starting with his shirt, leaving his arms tangled up in it just in case he decided to struggle some more. He unbuckled Red's belt and with one hand pulled off Red's. Red's expression darkened as his teeth clamped tight and he just stared off to the side absently.

Surge looked the boy up and down taking note of his developing muscles. His hand cupped Red's face and rubbed gently in the most reassuring manner the man could muster. "Not bad for a kid your age you know, all that travelling and training has really done you good!"

There was still no reaction from Red. Surge was a little disappointed that he didn't get a rise at all out of him; he started to look apprehensive for the first time since this situation started. Red's complete lack of response was starting to freak him out. He had come this far though, and wasn't about to back out now.

Surge took in a deep breath as he continued. The boy beneath him did absolutely nothing so Surge simply did as he pleased. Red remained perfectly stoic; his gaze affixed to some random point in space. "The least you could do is try and enjoy yourself!"

Surge finished with him and stood back up, "Wow… that was the shit…" Surge said emphasizing each word individually. "Eh kid?" Surge looked down into Red's face but found nothing but the same blank expression still there.

After a minute of silence Surge started snapping his fingers in front of Red's face, "Yo! Runt? You home?"

The look on Red's face was eerily familiar. Surge had to think about it a bit but it came rushing back to him. It was the same look he had during his shock treatments all those years ago.

"Oh shit…" The consequences of his actions finally entered his mind and Surge started to panic trying to think of what to do to snap the boy out of it. Loud noises and shaking him didn't seem to do it. He knew he had to do something though; those glossy unblinking eyes were really freaking him out.

Thinking maybe some water would do the trick, Surge started scavenging the cupboards for drinking glasses. Once he found one he quickly filled it up with water from the tap. Surge turned around and almost dropped the glass as Red was standing right behind him. "God damn it kid!"

Red took the water from Surge's hand and downed it quickly. He tossed the glass into the sink not caring if it broke or not and fetched his clothes from the floor and started putting them back on.

"Look runt, if you…" Surge began speaking shakily but a look from Red quickly silenced him. Red had gotten his pants back on and clasped the belt when he turned around and marched right up to a man who towered over him.

"No, you shut your fucking mouth and listen. For the time being you're needed… so no… I'm not going to do anything about this… but from now on you better stay out of my fucking way because I can guarantee you… If you EVER so much as TOUCH me again I _will_ KILL YOU!" Surge actually felt a shiver go down his spine as Red yelled at him.

Red was doing his best to stay calm. He was having a really hard time keeping his breathing in check. He felt what just happened was absolutely shameful. Angry at himself for placing any kind of trust in an inconsiderate retarded prick of an asshole who probably didn't even think what happened was that big of a deal…

Red picked up his shirt and slid it over his head. Surge stared in silence and shock really not sure when it happened that he lost control of the situation, "Hey, well, if it's any consolation I really wanted you to feel as good as I was if you had let me."

Red gripped onto the table and in a mighty heave lifted the entire thing into the air and swung it sideways making fierce contact with Surge's temple.

Surge's eyes snapped open seven hours later. He recognized his surroundings as the base's infirmary, "Oh you're awake!" The nurse walked over Surge's bed and took his vitals.

"Son of a… What happened?" Surge had the worst headache of his life.

The nurse checked off some information on her notepad, "I would be careful if I were you, you were diagnosed with a concussion, minor skull fracture, a few loose teeth and a broken nose."

It all started coming back to him, what he'd done, and Red getting up… and then…

The nurse turned around to retrieve some pain killers, "That was a nasty slip you had down those stairs! It was a good thing Red found you when he did!"

Surge stared wide eyed at the nurse and shook his head, "Oh shit, I'm fucked…"

________________________________

Hope to get some new feedback soon! Anything would be nice!


	17. Phantom

Phantom

The lights never turned off… His internal clock told him it was mid-afternoon… but having no windows and these constant florescent lights meant the cell's appearance was constant.

Blue lied on the cot and continued to stare at the ceiling. It was all he really had to do in this cell besides write or draw. At least the food was decent enough… He had long since examined the cell closely and realized there were no true structural weaknesses to use to escape. His only chance would be if someone actually opened the door.

Looking to the door of the cell Blue noticed Red standing right outside staring at him. It took Blue by surprise as he hadn't heard him approach. Blue sat up and looked right back at Red and the two remained wordless. Something was going on; Blue could tell things were not well with Red. He hadn't seen the other Pallet boy since he was first locked up, but he could tell the expression on Red's face wasn't normal.

"What's wrong?" Blue's voice seemed to reverberate in the awkward silence between the two.

Red's eyes narrowed and he remained silent. He didn't seem to be entirely focused on Blue; it was more like he was here thinking about something.

"Red… I want to help you. What's wrong?" Blue asked a second time.

"Why?" Red asked coldly.

"Because I care," Red didn't seem to be showing the same aggressiveness that he displayed the last time, so Blue hoped approaching him from a compassionate angle might get through to him.

"You never have before…" Red' voice remained monotone.

Blue closed his eyes and sat back, "That's not true… I always cared… I just never expressed it right…"

Red didn't respond but he didn't look away either.

"When we were younger… I was usually the bully I know... In my childish mind I thought you weren't prepared for the harshness of the world and that by pushing you it would toughen you up for anything that was to come. I didn't stop to think that really all I was doing was pushing you away. I'm sorry…"

Red rested his head on the clear door of the cell, "I don't know…"

"What don't you know?" Blue asked.

"I don't know…" Red repeated.

Blue got up and slowly approached the door by Red, "Please Red, help me understand you…"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Red shouted violently causing Blue to back off a bit.

Blue watched in shock as Red's eyes squeezed shut looking as if he was holding back tears when he started banging his head hard on the wall.

"I DON'T KNOW! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? WHY DOES NOTHING MAKE SENSE? WHY DOES EVERYONE HAVE TO LIE? WHY CAN I NEVER DO ANYTHING TO STOP IT? I DON'T KNOW!" With each question Red banged his head harder on the door.

"Please Red, STOP!" Red slowly sank to the door, his forehead left a slight streak of blood where he broke the skin from the banging as Blue kneeled on the inside to remain at eye level with him. "Please Red… This life isn't for you… You're supposed to be free, not involved in all of this. I want to help you, get you out of here, get back to leading the right life."

The two remained eye locked for a moment. Blue was hoping Red was thinking about his words. Red's eyes slanted and he began to laugh, "It's so funny how you talk as if you know me… Haven't you figured it out? YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Red jumped up and stared Blue down, "You never knew me! You never cared to know anything about me! And I… I don't care about you either…" Red turned coldly and walked away.

Blue remained on the ground and just stared at the spot where Red had been huddled a moment ago. He knew Red was hurt… so hurt and there was nothing he could do about it. Reeling his fist back he slammed it into the wall with enough force to crack the plastic sheet and split his knuckle open.

Red needed some time alone. He had packed up his backpack with a few things and left a note that he'd be back in time for the next scheduled meeting in Giovanni's room. He hiked through the mountainous forests north of Kanto. The mountain trails to Sinnoh were considered very treacherous as they were subject to washouts during the rains and were used so infrequently that overgrowth hid most of the paths. The perfect place to be alone for a while…

Red had just climbed up one of the steep mountain sides and from here looked over all of Kanto; a small country, but amazing all at the same time. Red sat down and opened up his backpack. He had brought a few snacks with him and took a moment to eat through a few of them.

Amongst the snacks he had also brought his Aerodactyl's fossil. He ran his fingers over it again letting the fond memories of flying high on the prehistoric bird fill his thoughts. He closed his eyes in silent gratitude to his old friend.

While Red's eyes were closed an unusual hum sound filled his ears. Red's eyes snapped open in recognition of the sound and he quickly put all of his things away in his backpack and ran towards it. It was louder the further west he ran. There were no paths so Red was ducking around trees and shrubbery of the wild forest.

A light became visible mostly dimmed by the many plants still between them, but still it was unmistakable. The phantom Mew was near.

A mild clearing was only a small ways off. Reaching to his belt, Red removed two Poké Balls and threw them quickly to the clearing releasing Pikachu and Venusaur.

Mew was surprised at first by the sudden appearance of the two Pokémon, but quickly resumed its playful demeanor. The moment Red emerged from the dense foliage he tapped Venusaur and pointed at the Mew. Saur immediately took queue and launched its Vinewhips with amazing speed. Mew barely saw the whips approaching before he was ensnared and slammed to the ground.

Mew cried out but was lifted again and thrown into a tree. Back and forth it was bashed around like a rag doll by the large Venusaur. Between flings, Mew's eye finally snapped open glowing a bright purple in color. With an earsplitting sound, a great aura surrounded Mew and it broke free of Venusaur's vines.

The small psychic lunged toward the Venusaur still protected by its' aura of power. Venusaur was knocked sideways and rolled down the clearing.

Red looked over at Pikachu, "This is what we've been training for, ready?"

"Pika!" The small rodent acknowledged.

"Then let's do it!" Red pointed at Mew who was still flying around the clearing encased in its powerful energy, "VOLT TACKLE! GO!"

"Chuuuuuu" Pikachu began to glow in incredible electric energy. Its' eyes flashed a brilliant yellow before its body became encased in a large blue ball of pure lightning. Taking flight Pikachu launched through the clearing with thunderous speed and crashed into Mew with full force.

Mew was knocked back but quickly recovered and dashed back into the fray. The powerful auras of the two Pokémon crackled with energy with each point of contact. The two began to move across the sky tackling each other again and again with massive power.

The two began moving faster creating a light show in the sky leaving only streaks of light in their movement and bright flashes and booms where they tackled each other. Mew moved in to tackle Pikachu, but Pikachu managed to feign underneath Mew and in quick upward spike Pikachu turned in the sky and crashed down onto Mew driving it into the ground sending an explosion of rock and debris into the air.

Mew slowly recovered from the attack, feeling sapped of energy it decided to try running away from this battle. It flashed through the sky not realizing the sky had darkened considerably in the last few minutes. Almost clear of the battle zone, a tremendous Pokémon appeared in front of Mew and snapped its' large jaw at the fleeing psychic. Mew barely stopped in time to dodge the bite, but its escape route was effectively blocked.

Rayquaza made no further aggressive actions towards the Mew which made it stare at the giant dragon curiously, "Your fight's over here Mew!" Red shouted while Pika still sparked with energy.

Mew's eyes narrowed and it stared at Red as if delivering a warning that if this went on it would not hold back anymore. Red grinned in response gladly accepting the challenge.

Red whistled and Pikachu resumed the Volt Tackle attack. Mew surrounded itself in its psychic aura and dove for Pika as well. Just as the two were about to meet Pika's aura exploded into a shockwave electrical energy taking Mew by surprise. Mew was knocked back and Pikachu took the opportunity to roll forward and knock Mew sharply with his tail as he flipped through the air.

Mew began to fall from the air, but quickly snapped its eyes open and disappeared from sight. Sensing Mew's short range teleport Pika quickly charged for an electric jump, picked a direction, and rode a bolt of lightning through the air.

Mew appeared just as Pikachu made a slight shift in direction and appeared beside Mew within a split second. "PIKA!" It shouted using Thunder and channeling a bolt of lightning from the sky to its body and focused the power onto Mew. Mew screamed as it was forced to absorb all the voltage.

Gathering a great amount of psychic energy, Mew launched a Psybeam at Pikachu before the electric mouse recovered from its last attack. Pikachu took the full brunt of the attack and fell from the sky. Pika hit the ground with a roll and quickly bounced back onto his feet.

The two stared each other down for a long moment, Mew was definitely looking winded, but Pika stood as confident as ever. Without warning, Red's Pikachu jumped into the air and in another Volt Tackle crashed into Mew. Mew barely had the chance to raise a protective barrier to shield itself from the attack.

Mew resumed the attack once Pika flew by. Once again the two began colliding with each other in midair with enough force to make the rocks on the ground vibrate in place. The longer the battle waged on, the more apparent it was becoming that Mew was fatiguing much quicker than Red's Pikachu.

The two continued ramming into each other again and again when Pika heard the whistle. Taking his cue, Pika charged toward Mew the same as he'd done plenty of times throughout the battle. Once he was close enough he changed strategies again and concentrated the power of his volt tackle into a single bolt of lightning. The bolt impacted Mew's barrier with enough force to shatter it. Mew took another hard hit and began to fall from the sky.

Mew was about to recover again when Pika latched onto the falling Mew. Channeling even more electricity the falling Pokémon, Mew began to cry out. Pikachu ended the attack with a midair spin and kicked Mew to the ground even harder.

Mew hit the ground with a dull splat, and was very slow getting back up this time. Before it could make any further moves, it was wrapped up once again by Venusaur vines. Red slowly approached the bound Pokémon, bouncing an empty Poké Ball in his hand.

"That was one hell of a show!" Red exclaimed to the small psychic. Mew looked up at Red curiously, unsure of what was happening. Red was practically unreadable even to its abilities. "Were you surprised that a Pikachu was able to keep up with you like that? You sure looked surprised!" Red continued talking to it.

"Well then are you ready?" Red held the Poké Ball close to Mew. The Mew looked at the Poké Ball and then gave Red a pleading look as if to beg that it didn't want to be captured. Red closed his eyes and nodded, stroking the cute Pokémon's head, "Sorry, but too bad." Red touched the Poké Ball to Mew's body and the two began to glow in a bright white light.

Red dropped the Poké Ball and allowed it to work its magic. The ball rolled and vibrated on the ground attempting to dominate the captured Pokémon. With a ding sound the light on the Poké Ball turned green and Mew was successfully caught.

Red reached down and picked up the Poké Ball taking a moment to just admire it. The legendary phantom… the one hundred and fifty first Pokémon… one of a kind… was in his possession. Pika jumped onto Red's shoulder and the young trainer immediately rewarded the Pikachu with a bottle of ketchup. "You did great Pika, I'm proud of you!" He said rubbing the mouse's ears.

Pika smiled and let out happy "Chu" noises as it lapped at the ketchup.

"Let's go back now," Red recalled his other Pokémon to their balls and hiked back down the mountain.

Blue was mostly asleep on the cot in his cell just staring once again at the ceiling when he was disturbed by the sound of a door slamming shut. He quickly jumped and looked to see what was going on.

Red came into view in front of his cell with a wicked smile on his face. Blue was about to ask when Red started talking "Once a long time ago I knew someone who told me… "Know your limits" or something like that," Red spoke in a voice that mocked authority. "Today I have a message for the person who told me that…" Red pulled out a Poké Ball and opened it calling forth his recently captured Mew, "I… have… NONE!"

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	18. Inspiration

Inspiration

Blue took in the sight of the captured phantom. It looked scared and meek.

"No… it wasn't meant to be caught like this… Why…?"

Red laughed "Like you haven't tried to capture Mew before; you're just jealous that I captured a Pokémon you were never able to!"

Blue took another look at the saddened Mew and deep down just knew something wasn't right here… "Just look at it Red… Has any other Pokémon you've caught ever looked like that?"

Red took a deep look at the Mew and grinned, "It's because Mew only understands half of its purpose now…" Both Mew and Gary looked at Red questioningly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Mew has a destined purpose you know? And Mew knows Team Rocket intends to use him for that purpose… What he doesn't understand is why." Red patted Mew's head consolingly.

Blue shook his head, "You're not making any sense, what the hell are you talking about?"

Red's eyes shifted over to glance in Blue's direction, "Don't tell me the grandson of the famed Professor Oak has no idea what Mew's potential is…"

Blue looked to the ground not saying a thing.

"Fine, keep to yourself then…" Red held the Poké Ball up, "Return!" Mew began to glow and was transferred back into the ball.

The two boys from Pallet just stared at each other in silence for another for another minute. "I don't care if you don't want to talk, you rot in here alone for as long as you want…" Red waved and left.

"And so the trail has gone cold…" Giovanni spoke softly as Sabrina delivered the news.

"I'm sorry sir, but apparently the bunker our spies had been monitoring was set up just to act as a decoy… We have no idea now where they have actually gone." Sabrina reported.

"That Samuel is still as sly as ever… Going to all that effort to hide the girl from me… no matter…" Giovanni checked a few items on his PDA and looked to be making notes of the matter at hand. "What of the other items on the table?"

"With our targets in hiding it should be a simple task now to bring down Northern Kanto's defenses and secure a trade route to Sinnoh," Koga went over his analysis of the changes in both Pewter and Cerulean Cities since their last violent advance. "Security has definitely been reinforced in the areas in question… There are more police forces as well as allied trainers returning to both cities. After closely monitoring the Pokémon activity in the areas I can safely say that our rigorous training schedule has put our troops on a much more advanced level than the trainers in Northern Kanto. There should be no reason left we cannot cleanly sweep the area with a second assault. The Cerulean gym leader has even been quite reclusive since the last attack indicating the forces are not fully recovered."

"Excellent…" Giovanni looked over the photos and video feeds of the areas. "What about our remote lab facilities?"

"With Blaine still comatose, Cinnabar Island was easily converted into a new Team Rocket facility. All of Blaine's technological developments are now property of Team Rocket… unfortunately all of your requested experiments involving reanimation of deanimated fossilized Pokémon have failed…" Giovanni nodded waving Sabrina on to the next topic.

"Special plain clothes ops have been stationed in the areas in which we have facilities in place to be able to guard and respond at a moment's notice," Surge pushed his reports forward. "So far we have yet to have a single suspicious incident reported at any of our new facilties."

"Fortunate indeed…" Giovanni took the report from Surge and pushed it aside. "What of our other priority items?"

Sabrina cleared her throat, "I believe I have located the whereabouts of one of the phantom Pokémon. Jirachi has apparently been in captivity for some time and is currently owned by a malicious group in Hoenn whose operations are headed by Guile Hideout, or also known as the "Armored Man". We have sent several negotiators to make some kind of arrangement of acquisition or trade."

"Excellent… What of the other phantoms?" All three generals looked down as no reports had come through for quite some time on the other Pokémon.

Just then the door to the conference room was slammed open and Red strode in looking more confident than usual, "Oh good I'm not too late!" the boy smiled.

Koga scowled disapprovingly at the boy, "Just very late, I'm surprised you came back at all…"

"I made sure everyone who needed to know I was going to be late was aware," Red winked at Giovanni who smiled smugly back at him.

Koga shook his head in defeat, "Do you have anything important for the meeting… Red?"

"As a matter of fact…" Red slyly approached the table and set his hand upon its smooth surface, "I think you may have all just been talking about this…" Red grinned and stepped back leaving a Poké Ball perched and still in the center.

The generals started whispering amongst themselves wondering if the balls contents could truly be what Red was insinuating it was. Giovanni smiled confidently and reached over to press the release button on the ball. In a flash of light Mew appeared before the five occupants of the room and floated about slowly.

"Amazing…" Sabrina was the first to express her admiration of Red to accomplish this feat on his own.

Surge and Koga eventually nodded and conceded that Red had accomplished something they had all failed to do time and time again.

"Most excellent… One down… three to go…" Giovanni grinned wider, his plans finally taking shape… Now it was only a matter of time…

Giovanni turned off the drill as he finished mounting the final bracket. Red handed him the Plaque with the Aerodactyl fossil seated securely behind a protective layer of glass. On the plaque with it was a photo and tribute to the fallen Pokémon.

Giovanni hung the plaque high on the wall and after straightening it out took a step back to admire it with Red. He put his arm around the boy's shoulder and kissed the top of his head. "I still have a group of scientists working on Blain's defossilizer trying to uncover some means of restoring Aero for you. So far they haven't been able to restore a Pokémon with its previous memories and abilities intact. If they find a way though there's no reason…"

"You shouldn't worry about it," Red interrupted him. "I need to stop being careless… and this is my reminder…" Red closed his eyes and took in a deep sigh.

A faint smile crossed Giovanni's face, "Alright, but in that case you're going to need a new dedicated flyer. We do have several Pidgeot available of course but I thought perhaps a Dragonite or Skarmony would better suit you?"

A grin finally came over Red and he chuckled, "Actually I already had the perfect idea for a new flyer."

The same grin crossed over Giovanni, "Oh?"

"Yes but I'm going to need Rayquaza's help to set the example…"

Giovanni nodded, "I'm liking this already…" Giovanni pinned Red against his own bed and began to kiss him vigorously.

Red laughed, but looked a little uncomfortable, "I know it turns you on and all when I have a good idea, but it's still early and we both have things to do before bed."

Giovanni noticed something seemed odd about Red's tone of voice, but decided not to bring it up, "Alright, I'll let you get to work. Come see me tonight."

Red smiled and cupped Giovanni's face and kissed him softly on the lips, "Yes boss," he laughed.

Giovanni let Red be and returned to his office. Once alone red sank to the floor and buried his face in his hands. He couldn't tell Giovanni how he felt… Not yet… Not after what Surge did to him so fresh in his memory. He took a deep breath just wanting a little more time to sort everything out… then things would be normal again.

Eying his belt through his fingers, Red grabbed it in a rush along with Rayquaza's ball to put his plans into action. The best way Red could think of to get over the conflicts in his head was to train even harder. Maybe then he could prove his worth again…

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End file.
